Beard on Bread by James Beard Page A

well, then stir in 4 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Turn out on a floured board. Knead into a smooth, pliable, elastic dough, if necessary using as much as ½ to 1 cup, or more, of additional flour to get it to the right feel. (This will take about 10 minutes.) Shape the dough into a ball, put into a well-buttered bowl, and turn to coat on all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1½ hours.
    Punch the dough down. Knead for 2 or 3 minutes and shape into two loaves. Thoroughly butter two 8 × 4 × 2-inch tins. Place the dough in the tins, cover, and let rise in a warm place until about even with the top of the tins, or amost doubled in bulk.
    Preheat the oven to 375°, place the bread in the center of the lowest rack, and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on top and bottom with the knuckles. Return the loaves, without the tins, to the oven rack to bake for about 5 minutes and acquire a firmer crust. Remove the loaves to a rack and cool.
NOTE
    If you should want a very soft top crust, brush the loaves with melted butter when you bring them out of the oven.

SWEETENED BREADS AND COFFEE CAKES

    Mother’s Raisin
    Raisin and Nut
    Currant
    Whole-Wheat Nut
    Pistachio
    Rich Sour-Cream Coffee Cake
    Monkey
    Moravian Coffee Cake
    Cinnamon
    Swedish Limpa
    Kugelhopf
    Verterkake
Mother’s Raisin Bread
    This was a raisin bread that my mother made very often, modeled on one she had admired at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. During World War I she used to do benefit teas for the British Red Cross, and there were always requests for this bread, thinly sliced and spread with good sweet butter. It was arranged on large platters, and there was never any of it left.
    [2 loaves]
    1 package active dry yeast
    2 cups lukewarm milk
    ⅓ cup granulated sugar
    1 tablespoon salt
    3 tablespoons butter
    5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
    Melted butter
    1½ cups sultana raisins plumped overnight in sherry or Cognac to barely cover, ½ teaspoon ground mace, and 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange rind
    1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 tablespoons cream
    Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup of the warm milk and proof it. Combine the rest of the warm milk, sugar, salt, and 3 tablespoons butter in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, then, using one hand or a heavy wooden spoon, gradually stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out on a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth, elastic, and glossy. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and set in a warm, draft-free spot to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2½ hours.
    Punch the dough down and knead for 3 minutes. Return to the bowl and let rise again for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll each out into a rectangle about 7 × 20 inches. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the raisin mixture. Roll the dough up tightly;tuck the ends under. Fit each roll, seam side down, in two well-buttered 8 × 4 × 2-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise in a warm spot till the dough shows just above the top of the pans. Brush with the egg yolk-and-cream wash and bake in a preheated 400° oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on top and bottom. If necessary, return the loaves to the oven rack without their pans to brown the bottom crusts.

Raisinand Nut Bread
    This can be baked in two loaves with a mixture of raisins and nuts in both or with raisins in one loaf and nuts in the other. It is a good, all-purpose bread, which is enhanced by the extra sweetness of the honeyand raisins. It toasts well; it is delicious cut thin, buttered well, and served with tea or coffee; it makes interesting sweet sandwiches when filled with chopped nuts and fruits, chopped figs, or even chopped olives and nuts; and it is also very good with marmalades of various kinds.
    [2 loaves]
    1 package