Milk or french bread

Ingredients: Three pounds of flour (pastry whites), one ounce of German yeast, a teaspoonful of castor sugar, one of salt, and sufficient milk to make it into dough. 

Put the flour into a basin, make a hole in the centre; put the yeast into a breakfastcup with the sugar; nearly fill the cup with milk and water, equal quantities, which should be lukewarm. Dissolve it by stirring, then pour it into the hole in the flour, and stir a little flour to make a sponge. Let it stand for half an hour. Have some lukewarm milk (if cold it will spoil the sponge), mix the dough into a stiff paste. Knead well, put it back into the basin, cut across the top, and put it into a warm place to rise (for about an hour). When well risen (it should rise to double the quantity), take it out on to the paste-board, well knead it, and make it into loaves. The quantity given should make three nice loaves. This also makes nice breakfast or dinner rolls. When the loaves or rolls are made into shape, they should be put on to a baking sheet and placed over a pan of hot water or on the plate rack, or a very cool oven. Bake for one hour in a moderate oven. A nice tea cake can be made from this bread by adding a little teaspoonful of sugar, and the yolk of one egg. Take about half a pound of dough and the above ingredients. Beat the cake well with the hand ; butter the tea-cake tins and put in the tea cakes (this quantity will make two). Place them in a warm place to rise, then bake about twenty minutes. A bread cake can be made from this dough by taking two pounds of dough, quarter of pound of lard or butter, the same of currants or sultanas, quarter of pound of mixed peel, the grated rind of a lemon, the yolks of two eggs, a dash of allspice. Warm the butter, put the dough into a basin, then add the butter and sugar, and egg, then the fruit, cutting the peel fine. Mix well together. Have ready a buttered cake tin, which should be warm. Stand the tin in a warm place, to let the cake rise. Bake in a moderately hot oven for an hour. These are excellent eaten hot for tea.