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Bread

To Make Leavened Bread

A leavened bread made from a starter dough, flour, salt, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Make Leavened Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Make the starter

  1. Keep a piece of dough weighing about 1 pound for use; it will last several days.

  2. Mix the dough with warm water and some flour to create a sponge.

  3. Knead the sponge.

  4. Take 3¾ cups of flour and mix a quarter with the sponge and enough water to form a dough.

  5. Knead the dough well.

  6. Cover the dough with a flannel cloth.

  7. Let it rise until it ferments properly.

Build the dough

  1. Gradually add more water and another quarter of the flour.

  2. Allow the dough to rise again.

  3. Repeat the process with the remaining flour.

  4. Ensure each addition rises properly before mixing more.

  5. Add 6 ounces of coarse sea salt to the dough.

  6. Knead the dough again.

Shape and bake

  1. Divide the dough into 8 loaves.

  2. Shape the loaves to be broad rather than thick.

  3. Let the loaves rise on the board to overcome the pressure from shaping.

  4. Bake the loaves in the oven.

  5. Reserve a piece of dough for the next baking.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the gluten network and bulk of the dough that traps gas and sets structure.
Dough (starter)
Carries wild yeast and bacteria that leaven the new dough and develop flavour.
Warm water
Hydrates the flour so gluten forms and activates the fermentation.
Coarse sea salt
Controls fermentation pace and tightens the gluten for a firmer crumb.

The step that matters

Let each addition rise before mixing more. Fermentation needs time to build gas and acidity in the dough. Adding flour and water before the previous addition has risen dilutes the culture and leaves the loaves dense.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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