White 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 sponge
In a bread pan, combine warm water and salt.
Stir in flour until the mixture is thick.
Add the home-made yeast and mix well.
Set the mixture aside to rise overnight.
Knead and rise
Knead the dough hard and let it rise again in the pan.
Repeat kneading and rising until the dough is light.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into loaves and let them rise in the tins for 1 hour.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the thick batter and, once kneaded, the gluten network that holds the bread's structure.
- Home-made yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise and turn light.
- Coarse sea salt
- Controls yeast activity and adds flavour to the dough.
The step that matters
Repeated kneading and rising until light. Kneading develops the gluten so the dough can trap the gas yeast produces. Stopping before the dough is properly light leaves a dense loaf, so the rise should be judged by the dough's lightness rather than by time alone.
“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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