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Plain Bread

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Plain 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 cake in 4 cups of lukewarm water for about 10 minutes.

  2. In a mixing pan, combine the salt and enough flour to make a stiff batter, similar to pancake batter.

  3. Add the dissolved yeast and beat for 2-3 minutes.

  4. Place the mixture in a warm place to rise overnight until it doubles in size.

Knead and shape

  1. In the morning, add enough flour to form a dough that doesn't stick to your hands or the board.

  2. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Let the dough rise until it is 2.5 times its size.

  4. Mold the dough lightly into pans.

  5. Cover the pans well and let the dough rise until it is 2.5 times its size.

Bake

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until the loaf is nicely browned and feels light when removed from the pan.

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

All-purpose flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chewy crumb.
Yeast
Produces carbon dioxide gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become airy.
Salt
Controls yeast activity and strengthens gluten, giving the bread flavor and a firmer texture.
Water
Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and dissolves the yeast to start fermentation.

The step that matters

Kneading and the second rise. The dough must be firm enough not to stick yet not overly dry. Proper gluten development traps the gas from fermentation, so the loaf rises well and stays light.

“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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