The Blessing of Baking - County Fair Egg Bread

"I am going to learn to make bread to-morrow. So you may imagine me with my sleeves rolled up, mixing flour, milk, saleratus, etc., with a deal of grace. I advise you if you don't know how to make the staff of life to learn with dispatch."

~ Emily Dickinson


On a stitching list there's been a lot of conversation about bread baking. It came up just at the time I was going through the cookbook closet and found two of my bread books, which had been "lost" amongst the books piled in front of them. I spent last night going through both books and plan on baking this old favorite recipe today ~ County Fair Egg Bread. I love it because it makes three loaves, and you can do a couple of variations before baking. It leaves you with bread for today, and some to freeze (or giveaway!). Although I have a bread machine, I still like making this "by hand". I do take an easy step these days though and use the dough hook in my food processor to do the kneading.








COUNTY FAIR EGG BREAD
(Yield: 3 loaves)

1-1/2 cups scalded milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 cakes yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 eggs, beaten
About 9 cups flour, sifted

~ Pour the scalded milk over the butter, salt and sugar. Cool.

~ Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let stand until it bubbles, about 5 minutes. Add the yeast and the beaten eggs to the cooled milk.

~ Gradually add flour to the mixture, beating it in thoroughly. Do not add any more flour than is necessary to make an easily handled dough because you want the bread to be light and tender.

~ Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1-1/2 hours.

~ Punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Shape into 3 loaves and place in greased 8-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until dough is just to the tops of the pans.

~ Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake 40 minutes longer, or until bread is golden.

VARIATIONS:

Wholesome White Bread:

~ Reduce sugar to 1/4 cup, use water instead of the milk, and add 1/3 cup wheat germ.

Cinnamon Bread:

~ Roll a portion of the dough 1-inch thick and spread with melted butter. Sprinkle liberally with brown sugar and cinnamon. Chopped nuts or raisins may also be added. Roll in a jelly-roll stype and place in a greased pan with the seam at the bottom. Let rise until doubled and bake as for the main recipe above.