Home-made German Yeast Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
In an earthenware basin, mix the flour and salt.
Dissolve the German yeast in ½ cup of tepid water.
Pour the yeast mixture into a well in the center of the flour.
Add more tepid water and mix to form a stiff dough, kneading well.
Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into loaves without overworking it.
Flour the tins and fill them halfway with the dough.
Let the loaves rise for another 15 minutes.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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 structure of the dough once mixed with water and kneaded.
- German yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Salt
- Controls yeast activity and adds flavor to the bread.
The step that matters
Kneading the stiff dough well. Kneading develops gluten, the flour's protein network that traps the gas from the yeast. Without enough kneading, the dough rises poorly and the loaves come out 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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