To Make French Bread from 1670 Recipe

Introduction

I came across this recipe and found it interesting. Here's what I've got so far, for me to revisit and bake at a later time.

 

Original Recipe

To make French-bread.

TAke half a bushel of fine flower, ten eggs, yolks and white, one pound and an half of fresh butter, then put in as much of yest as into the ordinary manchet; temper it with new milk pretty hot, then let it lye half an hour to rise, then make it into loaves or rowles, and wash them over with an egge beaten with milk; let not your oven be too hot. (Woolley)

Materials Needed

Half a bushel of flour = 20.52 lbs. flour*

10 eggs

1.5 lbs butter = 48 Tbsp. butter**

Yeast as manchet

Hot milk

 

Egg wash made with 1 egg and splash of milk

 

* 1 bushel of flour equals 41.05 lbs. of flour. 1 lb. of all purpose flour equals 3 1/3 cup.

** 1 lb. of butter is 2 cups. 8 Tbsp of butter equals 1/2 cup of butter.

My Interpretation of the Recipe

So, after dividing this recipe by 10, here is what I came up with:

 

6 2/3 cup flour

1 egg

5 Tbsp unsalted butter (technically it's 4.8 Tbsp... so I rounded up to 5)

yeast

hot milk (enough to make bread dough)

Egg wash made with 1 egg and splash of milk

 

Instructions 

Mix together the ingredients. Allow the dough at least 30 minutes to rise. Then, make loaves from the dough. Brush the egg wash on top of the loaves. Bake at 325ºF for 40-45 minutes. 

To test if the bread is done, thump the underneath side of a loaf with your thumb or knuckle. If it sounds hollow, then the loaf is done.

 

Works Cited

 Woolley, Hannah. The Cook's Guide. 1670. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A66843.0001.001/1:6?rgn=div1;view=fulltext. 7 September 2020.