[Sca-cooks] Sunday's experiment

[Marilyn Traber]

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Well, I was following the directions as more or less printed ;-)

The yeast proofed well in the milk, so it was fairly fresh yeast, but as you
point out, it was an incredibly short dough and I really didn't expect it to
rise much at all - so that wasn't entirely unexpected. I know I didn't get
any sort of oven spring at all, but it was a very nice texture - sturdy
enough to stand unsupported and soft enough to be very edible. Not
'structural' crust at all. AS the cheap brand of butter I used was VERY well
salted, I omitted the added salt entirely as it said to use your judgment on
adding salt.

I want to make it again, and with a proper period filling, and maybe a
splash of rosewater/egg/saffron endoring, maybe sugar to 'ice' it, and
filled with something more period - beef y-stewed sounds like a great idea.
Maybe duck, and pykel for mallard on the side. Who knows, maybe a Whonkking
great lot of asparagus and Digby's ooze on top!

Anybody have the reference for the subtleties made of towers filled with
goops?
margali


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A cheat.  Scald the milk and then put the butter into to melt and cool the
liquor.  Given the quantities, you may want to put the butter in the milk as
it comes up to scalding to get complete melting.  Most modern recipes tell
you to let the milk cool before adding it to the mix.

For the yeast, I would have dissolved 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast
in a couple tablespoons of warm water and let it activate.

Sift a couple teaspoons of salt into the flour, add some of the milk, stir,
add the yeast, stir, then add the rest of the milk.

I suspect the yeast wasn't as potent as it should be or that the milk was a
little too warm when you added it.  You may also have used a little too much
flour (making a slow rising hard dough), which happens to me every so often.

IIRC, the French Bread recipe is from Robert May.  One of these years, I'll
have to take a shot at it.

Bear
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