a difference of five or ten minutes in the
time needed for baking. One gas oven that I knew never baked well in
winter unless a screen was put before it to keep away draughts!
ROLLS.--If you desire to get your bread more quickly it is only a question
of making smaller loaves. Little rolls may be cut out with a large egg-cup
or small pastry cutter, and these take any time from twenty minutes to
half an hour.
2. EGG BREAD.
9 ozs. fine wholemeal, 1 egg, a bare 1/2 pint milk and water, butter size
of walnut.
Put butter in a qr. qtn. tin (a small square-cornered tin price 6-1/2d. at
most ironmongers) and let it remain in hot oven until it boils. Well whisk
egg, and add to it the milk and water. Sift into this liquid the
wholemeal, stirring all the time. Pour this batter into the hot buttered
tin. Bake in a very hot oven for 50 minutes, then move to a cooler part
for another 50 minutes. When done, turn out and stand on end to cool.
3. GEM BREAD.
Put into a basin a pint of cold water, and beat it for a few minutes in
order to aerate it as much as possible. Stir gently, but quickly, into
this as much fine wholemeal as will make a batter the consistency of thick
cream. It should just drop off the spoon. Drop this batter into very hot
greased gem pans. Bake for half an hour in a hot oven. When done, stand on
end to cool. They may appear to be a little hard on first taking out of
the oven, but when cool they should be soft, light and spongy. When
properly made, the uninitiated generally refuse to believe that they do
not contain eggs or baking-powder.
There are proper gem pans, made of cast iron (from 1s.) for baking this
bread, and the best results are obtained by using them. But with a
favourable oven I have got pretty good results from the ordinary
baking-tins with depressions, the kind used for baking small cakes. But
these are a thinner make and apt to produce a tough crust.
4. HOT WATER ROLLS.
This bread has a very sweet taste. It is made by stirring boiling water
into any quantity of meal required, sufficient to form a stiff paste. Then
take out of the basin on to a board and knead quickly with as much more
flour as is needed to make it workable. Cut it into small rolls with a
large egg-cup or small vegetable cutter. The quicker this is done the
better, in order to retain the heat of the water. Bake from 20 to 30
minutes.
5. OATCAKE.
Mix medium oatmeal to a stiff paste with cold water. Add e
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