How To Prepare The Bough

Sift eight pounds of flour into a large wooden bowl; make a hollow in the center and lay in it three ounces of yeast; diluting with three pints of barely lukewarm water, make a soft sponge, sprinkle it over with flour and leave it to rise in a mild temperature for three hours, more or less, according to the heat, and until the sponge doubles itself, then moisten with three pints of milk into which has been dissolved half a pound of sugar and three ounces of salt, incorporating at the same time a pound and a half of butter; knead well and divide it into small pieces. As soon as it is thoroughly mixed incorporate sufficient flour to make a consistent dough and knead it well to give it plenty of body. The dough being now finished cut it into three parts.

Sweet Rolls

Put one of these parts into a vessel, sprinkle it lightly with flour and leave it to rise for an hour and a half.

Crescents

Take the second piece of dough, put it into a basin and incorporate four ounces of butter; work well so that it is well mixed, then leave it to rise for one hour and a half.

Muffins

To the third and last piece add a little milk to soften and obtain a mellow dough, keeping it sufficiently firm to be able to mold with the hand on the table; take it out of the bowl, dredge the latter with flour and return the dough to it; besprinkle flour over the top, cover and leave it to rise, the same as the other two, for one hour and a half. At the expiration of this time the three pieces of dough should be raised to double their height. Knead them .again to prevent fermentation; they are now ready to be divided and molded.

Sweet Rolls

Begin with the sweet rolls and operate as follows: Break it into two-ounce pieces; roll these into balls and place them as fast as they are done into lightly floured boxes at short distances from each other; dredge slightly with flour, cover and leave them to rise for half an hour, then roll them over again exactly the same as before, giving them a more perfect spherical shape; range these balls as quickly as they are formed into lightly buttered baking sheets with a slight space between each, and as soon as the sheets are filled put them into boxes and cover; let them now rise from one hour to an hour and a quarter; they should be one-third larger than their original size and are then ready to be put into the oven; brush the surfaces with a feather brush dipped in beaten eggs, diluted with a little milk; with a pair of scissors make four deep incisions so as to form a cross, then push them into a slack oven and let bake for eighteen or twenty minutes.

Crescents

Crescents are to be molded in the following manner: Lay on the table the buttered dough already prepared for these; divide it up into one ounce and a half pieces and roll them into balls; set them into the boxes as soon as done, dredge over with rye flour, cover and leave them to rise for thirty-five to forty minutes, then lay two of the first molded balls on the table one beside the other, a short distance apart, and with the roller used for rolls flatten down the two balls at once, to obtain two oval pieces, an eighth of an inch thick, leaving the two furthest sides a little thicker than the forward ones, then with the left hand hold the nearest or front one of these flats, and with the palm of the right hand roll it over on itself, beginning with the back or thick side, and bring it forward to give the shape of a shuttle, six inches long, seven-eighths of an inch in the center and one-fourth of an inch at the ends; lay them when finished on a lightly buttered baking sheet, giving them the shape of a crescent, and finish the other oval layer the same, continuing until all the balls are molded; as fast as each baking sheet is filled put them into the boxes, cover and leave for one hour to one hour and a quarter; brush over with beaten eggs diluted in a little milk and push them into a slow oven to bake for twelve to fifteen minutes.

Muffins

Lightly butter three dozen tin muffin rings three and a half inches across and one inch high; lay them on two lightly buttered baking sheets. Place the third piece of dough - the one softened with milk - on the table, cut it into an ounce and three-quarters pieces ana roll them all into balls; flatten slightly in the middle and lay them at once into the rings; when all are tilled cover over with two more lightly buttered baking sheets, set a weight on top of each and leave the dough rise for three-quarters of an hour; push them gently into the oven, sheets, weights and all. being careful not to disturb them whatever; they take from twenty to twenty-five minutes to bake; turn them out of the rings as soon as they leave the oven.