Cake and Bread

4 mushrooms or 2 round loaves:

1/4 cup margarine
1/2 pound mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons molasses
4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup warm water (105 F to 115 f)
2 Packages active dry yeast
1 egg
1 cup wheat germ
8 to 9 cups all-purpose flour

1. Melt 2 tablespoons margarine in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushroom and onion; saute until onion is tender and liquid has evaporated. Cool
2. Heat milk; stir in molasses, salt, and pepper. Cool to lukewarm.
3. Measure warm water into a large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Add lukewarm milk mixture, egg, wheat germ, and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.
4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes). Place in a greased bowl; turn to greased top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 hour)
5. Meanwhile, use four 30-ounch fruit  cans to prepare  Mushroom Pans (see below)
6. Punch dough down; turn onto lightly floured surface.

To make Mushrooms: Divide dough onto 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth round ball. Place in prepared Mushrooms Pans. Let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 hour). With fingertips, gently press lower edge of mushroom cap down to meet foil-covered collar. Reshape cap if necessary. If desired, brush mushrooms with a mixture of  1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water. Bake on lowest rack position at 400 F about 40 minutes or until done. Carefully remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

To make loaves: Divide dough in half. Roll each half to a 14×9-inch rectangle. Shape into loaves. Place in 2 greased 9×5x3-inch loaf pans. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in bulk (about 1 hour). Bake at 400 F about 45 minutes, or until done. Carefully remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Mushroom Pans: Cut 4 heavy cardboard squares 2 inches wider than can opening. Trace can opening in center of squares and cut out. Cover rings with foil. Place rings over cans so they fit tightly around opening. Grease cans and foils collars well.

1 package active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon salt
5 to 5 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1. Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Set aside.
2. Combine remaining 1 3/4 cups water and salt in a large bowl. Blend in 3 cups flour. Stir softened yeast and add to flour mixture, mixing well.
3. Add about half the remaining flour to the yeast mixture and beat until very smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto lightly flour surface. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes. Knead 5 to 8 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
4. Shape dough into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl, just large enough to allow dough to double.
5. When dough has doubled in bulk, punch down with fist. Knead on a lightly floured surface about 2 minutes. Divide into 2 equal balls. Cover with towel and let stand 10 minutes.
6. Roll each ball into a 14×8-inch rectangle. Roll up lightly from wide side into a long, slender loaf. Pinch ends to seal. Place loaves on a lightly greased 15×10-inch baking sheet. Cover loaves loosely with a towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled.
7. Bake at 425 F 10 minutes. Turn oven control to 350 F and bake 1 hour, or until golden brown.

Note: To increase crustiness, place shallow pan on the bottom of the oven and fill with boiling water at the beginning of the baking time.

–

For more understanding about bread making with yeast, you may want to check Yeast Breads in Breadmaking

Bread and life, home, and hospitality are inextricably associated in the human imagination and experience. Old as history, breadmaking was one of the first culinary arts practiced -and at a time when home itself was little more than a few flat stones arranged around a fire.

Now most of peoples of the earth have breads characteristically their own. In our country we have no single traditional bread. We have instead welcomed the traditions of all peoples that have come here and made them our own.

Made with or without leavening, bread appears in a hundred different, delightful guises -as soft loaves and crusy loaves and crusty loaves, holiday breads and coffee cake, waffles, griddlecakes, popovers, muffins and doughnuts, and in other forms too numerous to mention.

Here are some definition we might want to know:

–

Yeast: Grows in the presence of a given amount of moisture and sugar at a temperature of about 80 degress F, Producing in the process tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas which leaven the bread dough. A ddough must be leavened and to rise and become light.

Compressed Yeast (moist cake)-Grayish tan though may be slightly browned at edges; breaks with a clean edge and crumbles easily between the fingers when fresh; must be kept in refrigerator  and used within a week for best results; soften in lukewarm liquid (80 degrees F to 85)

continue reading »

Welcome to the site. Enjoy the stuff!