Skip to main content
Bread

Compressed Yeast Bread

A simple yeast bread made with compressed yeast, flour, water, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Compressed Yeast Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the sponge

  1. Dissolve the yeast in 1 pint of lukewarm water.

  2. Stir in enough flour to make a thick batter.

  3. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

  4. Once foamy, stir in the salt dissolved in a little warm water.

Shape and bake

  1. Add the remaining flour and enough lukewarm water to form a stiff dough.

  2. Knead the dough for 5 minutes.

  3. Divide the dough into 2 loaves and place in floured baking pans.

  4. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in size.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.

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 dough's structure and gluten network that traps gas and holds the loaf's shape.
Fresh compressed yeast
Ferments the sugars in the dough, producing carbon dioxide gas that makes the loaves rise.
Water
Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and activates the yeast.
Coarse sea salt
Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough while adding flavor.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until doubled. Yeast needs time to produce enough carbon dioxide to expand the dough. Rising too short leaves a dense loaf, while over-proofing can cause collapse during baking.

“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.

You might also like

CornbreadCornbread345 recipesBread PuddingBread Pudding336 recipesMilk Bread RollsMilk Bread Rolls242 recipesPotato BreadPotato Bread124 recipes