by James Beard
½ cup melted butter
2 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 4½ cups all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk combined with 2 teaspoons flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons water
Dissolve the yeast and ½ cup brown sugar in warm water in a mixing bowl and allow to proof. Stir in the melted butter, whole eggs, egg yolks, and salt and blend well. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, beating it in with a wooden spoon or with the hand. Turn the dough out on a floured board, and knead with additional flour until you have a soft, velvety, elastic dough with no trace of stickiness. (A good 5 minutes of concentrated kneading should accomplish this.)
Divide the dough into two equal portions. Flatten and shape each into a round loaf. Place on a greased baking sheet, cover with a tent of aluminum foil, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours. Brush the egg mixture over the tops of the two loaves and slash once or twice with a sharp knife or razor blade. Sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired, and bake in a preheated 325° oven 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on top and bottom with the knuckles. Cool on a rack before slicing.
Water-Proofed Bread
Although the dough in this recipe is fairly difficult to handle, it makes a very delicate, briochelike bread with a rich, buttery, eggy taste. It is extraordinarily good, ideal for tea or for eating with butter, jam, and marmalade, and toasts extremely well. It can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for 3 or 4 weeks. The bread is called “water-proofed” because the dough is submerged in a bath of water for the first rising.
[2 loaves]
2 packages active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ cup warm milk
1 stick (½ cup) butter
2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
3½ cups all-purpose flour
Rinse a 4-quart mixing bowl with warm water. Dry thoroughly. Put in the yeast, the ½ cup warm water, and the teaspoon of sugar, and stir until the yeast dissolves. Allow it to proof for 5 minutes. Heat the milk with the butter and ¼ cup sugar until lukewarm, then add to the yeast mixture. Add the salt and stir to blend well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and again blend thoroughly. Then stir in 3 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, to make what will probably be a very wet and sticky dough. Stir quite vigorously. Spread out the dough on a working surface—a table, a piece of marble, or a board—sprinkled with the additional ½ cup flour. Use a baker’s scraper or large spatula to work in this last portion of flour and make the dough firmer. Scrape under the flour and the dough, lifting and folding inward. Repeat until the flour is well incorporated.
When the dough is easy to handle, begin kneading by hand. Continue until the dough can be shaped. (The process of kneading first with the scraper and then by hand is very effective for delicate dough. In this case the dough will remain rather sticky, but don’t worry about it.)
Lift the dough, pat with flour, and place on a clean kitchen towel also sprinkled with flour. Wrap it and tie it in the towel, just as you would a package, but very loosely. Submerge this in a large bowl filled with warm water (about 100° to 115°). It will sink. Let it sit for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until it rises sufficiently to float on top of the water.
Lift the dough from the water and let the excess water drip off. Unwrap and turn out on a lightly floured surface. Again it will be quite sticky, so scrape off any dough that adheres to the towel. Knead and shape into two loaves, using both dough scraper and your hands. Thoroughly butter two 9 × 5 × 3-inch pans and place one loaf in each pan. Cover, put in a warm, draft-free place, and let the dough rise slightly above the tops of the pans, or until almost doubled in bulk.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°. Brush the dough with cold water, and, if you like, make a slash in each loaf with a sharp knife. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when rapped with the knuckles, top and bottom. When done, place the loaves directly on the oven rack, without their pans, to brown the bottoms a little more and crisp the crusts. Cool on racks.
VARIATION
• Salt-Free Water-Proofed Bread: This uses the same technique as the previous recipe, except that I tailored it for someone on a special diet by leaving out the salt and substituting honey for the sugar. The honey, in turn, made a stickier dough that required an extra cup of flour. Although a little closer grained in texture than the first loaf, it is still a very delicious bread.
[2 loaves]
2 packages active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
½ cup milk
1 stick (½ cup) butter
3 eggs
4 to 4¼ cups all-purpose flour
Rinse out a large mixing bowl with warm water and dry it. Combine the yeast with the warm water and 1 tablespoon honey in the mixing bowl. Stir well until it is dissolved and allow to proof for 5 minutes. Heat the milk to lukewarm with the butter and remaining ¼ cup honey. Pour it into the yeast mixture and stir to blend very well. When it has cooled slightly add the eggs, one at a time. Then stir in 3½ cups of the flour, a cup at a time, with a wooden spoon. The dough will be quite sticky and wet. Sprinkle the additional ½ to ¾ cup flour on your working surface, and use a baker’s scraper or large spatula and your hand to incorporate the flour into the very soft dough. Proceed as described in the master recipe.
Water-Proofed Egg Twists
These are delicious little sweet buns that lend themselves to many variations. They are fun to prepare, have extraordinary taste, look charming, and can be frozen and reheated with great success. They are very nice for breakfast or with luncheon dishes.
[About 18 buns]
1 package active dry yeast
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
3½ cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) butter, cut in pieces
¼ cup warm milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chopped walnuts, filberts, or pecans
Proof the yeast with 1 tablespoon sugar in the warm water. Put 2 cups flour in a large mixing bowl and add the salt and butter. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, working very quickly to keep the butter from melting, until the mixture resembles rather coarse meal. Add the warm milk and the yeast mixture, and beat very well with a wooden spoon. Then add the eggs, vanilla, and one more cup of flour and beat until the batter is very springy and airy. Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead for just 1 minute, until you can form the dough into a ball. Spread out a cotton or linen cloth—a kitchen tea towel is perfect—and put the dough in the center. Fold the towel over the dough as you would to wrap a package, keeping it rather loose. Secure the package with string, then submerge in a large bowl or crock of tepid water and let stand for about 35 to 40 minutes. The package will rise to the top and float. Remove and let the excess water drip off.
Unwrap the dough, which will have doubled in volume. Scrape off onto a lightly floured board, and shape into a ball, kneading in a little flour, since the dough will be fairly wet and sticky at this point. Pinch off from this ball of dough 18 or so even pieces about the size of a large egg, weighing the pieces to achieve uniformity if you have a scale and want to be a perfectionist. On a baking sheet or in a jelly-roll pan mix the ½ cup sugar and the chopped nuts. Roll each ball of dough in the sugar-and-nut mixture into a cylinder about 7 or 8 inches long. Fasten the ends together, and then twist at the center to roughly form a figure eight. Place on well-buttered baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Cover with aluminum foil and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 30 to 40 minutes, until the twists are doubled in bulk. Bake in
a preheated 375° oven 15 to 20 minutes, until golden in color and fairly hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom. Cool on racks.
VARIATION
• After the risen dough has been scraped onto the floured board, gently knead in the nuts. Proceed with the recipe, rolling out the pieces of dough in sugar only.
Brioche Bread
Not the classic brioche that one prepares for the little top-knotted rolls, although similar to it, this is a loaf that is especially good for delicate sandwiches, such as the popular onion sandwich hors d’oeuvre I created years ago. It is also a delicious egg bread by itself, easy to make and pleasant in flavor.
[2 loaves]
1½ packages active dry yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
1 cup melted butter
1½ teaspoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 egg yolk mixed with ¼ cup evaporated milk or light cream
Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water and allow to proof. Mix the melted butter and salt. In a large bowl combine the flour, eggs, melted butter, and yeast mixture. Beat with the hand until smooth. Place in a buttered bowl, turning to butter the surface, cover, and set in a warm, draft-free place to rise until light and doubled in bulk, about 1 to hours. Punch the dough down and shape into two loaves. Fit into buttered 8 × 4 × 2-inch loaf pans and let rise again in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Brush the loaves with the egg yolk-milk wash. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes, until the loaves are a deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped with the knuckles. Cool on a rack.
County Fair Bread
When well made, this slightly sweet braided loaf looks exactly as if it would win first prize at the fair. It can be made with unbleached hard-wheat flour as well as with all-purpose flour, and the baking sheet can be coated with cornmeal instead of butter. The flavor is good, and the texture is very light. This is a nice bread to give away for a holiday present.
[1 large braided loaf or 2 smaller braided loaves]
5 to 5½ cups all-purpose or unbleached hard-wheat flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 package active dry yeast
1½ cups milk
½ stick (¼ cup) butter, cut in small pieces
2 eggs
1 egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Sesame seeds
In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt, and dry yeast. Heat the milk and the butter in a saucepan, just until the milk is warm; the butter does not need to melt. Add the eggs and the warm milk mixture to the flour mixture. (This, as you will notice, is one of those newish dry-mix processes where you do not proof the yeast first—and it works.) Mix very well until thoroughly moistened, and beat with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Turn out on a floured board, and knead the dough until it is quite smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Work into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, and turn to coat with butter on all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until light and doubled in bulk, 1 to 1½ hours.
Punch the dough down and divide into six equal portions. Roll each of these portions into a thin cylinder about 8 to 10 inches long. Take three strips and braid them together. Place the braid on a baking sheet buttered or sprinkled with cornmeal. Braid the remaining three strips and place about 6 inches away from the other loaf. (For a more spectacular loaf, make a braid of three large strips and then a braid of three smaller strips, and put one on top of the other. This takes a good hour to bake and a slight amount of dexterity to shape.)
Cover the loaves and let rise in a warm, draft-free space until doubled in bulk, which will take another 1½ hours. Brush with the egg white and water, sprinkle lavishly with sesame seeds, and bake in a preheated 375° oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped top and bottom with the knuckles and have achieved a nice golden-brown color.
BATTER BREADS
Sally Lunn
Golden Cake Batter
Dill-Seed
English Muffin
English Muffin for Microwave Oven
Sally Lunn
This is an old, old recipe for Sally Lunn. I like to bake it in a large tube pan and invert it. It makes a beautiful standing loaf that, when fresh, should be torn apart with forks rather than cut, to retain its lightness. Or, after cooling, it can be sliced and toasted. If you have some left, I recommend that you freeze it and use it sliced and toasted.
[1 ring loaf]
1 package active dry yeast
⅓ cup sugar
½ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
½ cup lukewarm milk
1 stick butter, melted in the milk
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3½ to 4 cups all-purpose flour
Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a mixing bowl, and allow to proof. Add the milk, butter, and salt, and stir well to combine. Add the eggs and incorporate them well with a wooden spoon. Then add the flour in small amounts, and beat well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Make a stiff but workable batter, using up to four cups of flour if necessary. Cover the bowl, and let the batter rise slowly in a rather cool spot until doubled in bulk. Beat it down with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. Scrape into a well-buttered 9- or 10-inch tube pan, and again let the batter rise—this time to the very top of the pan.
Bake in a preheated 375° oven 45 to 50 minutes or until the bread is dark and golden on top and sounds hollow when rapped with your knuckles. Turn out on a rack to cool, or serve warm, if you prefer, with sweet butter.
Golden Cake Batter Bread
A light, rather sweetish, easy-to-make bread that is similar to Sally Lunn. It will slice nicely if baked in a tube pan according to the directions, and it can be reheated, wrapped in foil and buttered if you wish, in a 350° oven for 10 to 15 minutes or in the microwave oven for 20 seconds. It makes an attractive loaf of bread for a gift.
[1 ring loaf]
4 to 4½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1 stick (½ cup) butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast. Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until the milk is warm; the butter does not need to melt. Combine with the eggs, vanilla, and the flour mixture, using an electric mixer at lowest speed until the flour is moistened; then beat 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, stir in the remaining flour to form a stiff batter. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Stir down the dough. Spread in a well-buttered 10-inch tube pan, then cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
Dill-Seed Bread
This is almost a batter bread. It has a nice crumb, lightness, a delicious “nose,” and a very pleasant “dilly” flavor. I prefer using 2 teaspoons dill weed to the dill seed, but that is a matter of personal taste. It is not a good keeper.
[1 loaf]
1 package active dry yeast
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
¼ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
8 ounces large-curd cottage cheese (not the creamed type), at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons grated onion
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dill seed or dill weed
Dissolve the yeast an
d sugar in the warm water in a large mixing bowl, and allow to proof for about 5 minutes. Stir the cottage cheese into the yeast mixture, then add the egg and blend thoroughly. Put in the grated onion, melted butter, salt, and baking soda. Stir in the flours, 1 cup at a time, and the dill seed and turn out on a lightly floured board. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and springs back when indented with the fingers. Butter a 9 × 5 × 3-inch loaf tin and shape the dough to fit the pan. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk.
Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when you remove it from the pan and tap it with your knuckles. Cool on a rack before slicing.
English Muffin Bread
As its name suggests, this bread is derived from English muffin batter. Large-grained, with a fairly coarse crumb, it is excellent when sliced and toasted, otherwise, it is rather uninteresting. It may be baked in one large tin, which gives deep slices, or in two small ones.
[1 large loaf or 2 smaller loaves]
1 package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
⅞ cup warm milk
¼ teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water
Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a large bowl, stir until the yeast and sugar are dissolved, and let the mixture sit until it proofs. Add the flour, mixed with the salt, and the warm milk in alternate portions while stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Holding the bowl tightly, beat the dough very hard until it shows some elasticity and looks almost ready to leave the sides of the bowl. (Unlike a kneaded dough, however, it will remain loose and sticky.) When it has an almost gummy quality, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1¼ to 1½ hours, until doubled in bulk. Stir down with a wooden spoon, add the dissolved soda, and beat vigorously again for about 1 minute, being careful to distribute the soda thoroughly, or else the bread will be streaked. Then butter one 10-inch or two 8 × 4 × 2-inch tins and fill with the dough, using a rubber spatula to scrape it from the bowl.
