somethingshiny
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2007
- Messages
- 6,746
I made 4 items from my recipe book for a party I had today. Here is one of them. If you want to see more, the rest is on my blog.
I have never made bread from scratch before. Not real bread anyway, just fruit bread stuff. This was the first time I've used yeast!
Double Batch Buns
2 Yeast Cakes
1 C Water
1 t Sugar
Add flour enough to make a sponge the night before. In morning add 3 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup lard, 2 tea salt. This takes about 2 sieves of flour.
Wow, talk about a lack of directions! First off, call Mom. “How much is a sieve of flour?” My sieve has holes and I use it to drain pasta, can’t imagine it would hold much flour. Mom says she means the sifter. Okay, how big was her sifter? We discuss the rest of the recipe and decide one sieve is probably in the range of 4 cups.
I know that hot water activates the yeast , although clearly not mentioned in this recipe, so I heat the water to 124*. I know it is 124* because my mother-in-law gave me a new digital thermometer after the initial adventure caused my thermometer to spontaneously explode while trying to make donuts.
Now, I mix in the sugar and yeast. I’m going to make a single batch of these buns so I’ve reduced ingredients by half. “Enough to make a sponge.“ Really? I chuck in some flour. I ask my husband if this looks like a sponge. He looks at me with questioning eyes and slowly replies, “No.” Then he backs cautiously out of the kitchen. I throw in some more flour. Well, that’s the best I can do for now since I have no idea what making a sponge consists of. The yeast I have is rapid rising, so I can skip the long first rise. By 4-5 minutes it’s starting to rise and I’m confident that I’ve added the right amount of flour. They say curiosity killed the cat, but sometimes I think it was confidence that did him in.
More conversation with my mother yields the rest of the instructions. I add the rest of the ingredients after the first rise and knead. And knead. And knead. The final flour tally is just under 6 cups. That’s a big sifter. The dough is shaped into 24 balls a bit bigger than a golf ball and are resting on a greased cookie sheet. I cover them with a lightly greased plastic wrap. Now I’ll let it double before baking.
I’m going to try them at 375 and just keep an eye on them. They’re done in about 15 minutes. Warm and golden, they smell delicious.
I have never made bread from scratch before. Not real bread anyway, just fruit bread stuff. This was the first time I've used yeast!
Double Batch Buns
2 Yeast Cakes
1 C Water
1 t Sugar
Add flour enough to make a sponge the night before. In morning add 3 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup lard, 2 tea salt. This takes about 2 sieves of flour.
Wow, talk about a lack of directions! First off, call Mom. “How much is a sieve of flour?” My sieve has holes and I use it to drain pasta, can’t imagine it would hold much flour. Mom says she means the sifter. Okay, how big was her sifter? We discuss the rest of the recipe and decide one sieve is probably in the range of 4 cups.
I know that hot water activates the yeast , although clearly not mentioned in this recipe, so I heat the water to 124*. I know it is 124* because my mother-in-law gave me a new digital thermometer after the initial adventure caused my thermometer to spontaneously explode while trying to make donuts.
Now, I mix in the sugar and yeast. I’m going to make a single batch of these buns so I’ve reduced ingredients by half. “Enough to make a sponge.“ Really? I chuck in some flour. I ask my husband if this looks like a sponge. He looks at me with questioning eyes and slowly replies, “No.” Then he backs cautiously out of the kitchen. I throw in some more flour. Well, that’s the best I can do for now since I have no idea what making a sponge consists of. The yeast I have is rapid rising, so I can skip the long first rise. By 4-5 minutes it’s starting to rise and I’m confident that I’ve added the right amount of flour. They say curiosity killed the cat, but sometimes I think it was confidence that did him in.
More conversation with my mother yields the rest of the instructions. I add the rest of the ingredients after the first rise and knead. And knead. And knead. The final flour tally is just under 6 cups. That’s a big sifter. The dough is shaped into 24 balls a bit bigger than a golf ball and are resting on a greased cookie sheet. I cover them with a lightly greased plastic wrap. Now I’ll let it double before baking.
I’m going to try them at 375 and just keep an eye on them. They’re done in about 15 minutes. Warm and golden, they smell delicious.
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