Name: White Bread Sponge Method
Ingredients: 1 cake Fleischmann's yeast; 2 quarts lukewarm water; 1 tablespoon salt; 4½ quarts sifted flour

White Bread Sponge Method

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 cake Fleischmann's yeast
2 quarts lukewarm water
1 tablespoon salt
4½ quarts sifted flour

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

Dissolve the yeast in 1 quart of lukewarm water.
Add 2 quarts of sifted flour to the yeast mixture to make a sponge.
Set aside to rise for about 2 to 2½ hours.

Make and knead the dough

Once risen, add the remaining pint of lukewarm water with dissolved salt.
Add the rest of the flour to form a moderately stiff dough.
Knead thoroughly and let rise for 1 to 2 hours.
Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead again.

Shape and bake

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and place in greased baking pans.
Let rise again for about 1 hour.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
After baking, remove loaves from pans and cool by leaning them against the empty pans.

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 that gives the bread its structure and chew.
Yeast: Ferments sugars in the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise.
Lukewarm water: Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and dissolves the yeast to activate it.
Salt: Strengthens gluten and controls the pace of yeast fermentation for flavor.

The step that matters

Set aside to rise for about 2 to 2½ hours. The sponge must ferment fully so the yeast builds gas and flavor before the rest of the flour is added. Underproofing leaves a dense loaf, while the dough's structure depends on active yeast throughout the rise.

“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.