It is almost impossible to shape and raise rolls for an early breakfast, but if one have a cold room or a refrigerator the rolls can be put in the pan the night before, and they will then be ready to bake for breakfast. Reserve about a pint and a half of the risen bread dough and work into it a tablespoonful of butter or lard. Put the dough in a bowl; cover it with a plate and place the bowl in the refrigerator or in a cold room. In the evening shape the dough into rolls and rub a little soft butter over them. Cover the pan closely, but leave ample room for the rolls to rise; then put in the refrigerator or cold room. Bake in the morning in a moderately hot oven for half an hour.
1 pint of flour. 1/2 pint of warm water. 1 teaspoonful of sugar. 1/2 teaspoonful of salt. 1 tablespoonful of butter. 1/8 cupful of yeast.
Sift the flour into a bowl; then add the salt and sugar. Melt the butter in the warm water (be sure it is not above 100°), and add the yeast. Put this mixture with the flour, and beat thoroughly with a strong spoon. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise over night. In the morning butter a French-roll pan and half fill each compartment with the sponge, being careful not to break it down unnecessarily. Let the rolls rise for an hour and bake them in a moderately hot oven for half an hour.
1-1/2 pints of flour. 1/2 pint of milk, scant measure. 1 teaspoonful of sugar. 1 tablespoonful of butter or lard. 1/4 cake of compressed yeast, or 1/4 cupful of liquid yeast.
Boil the milk, and let it cool. Sift the flour into the mixing bowl. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour. Make a hole in the middle of the flour, by drawing it back to the sides of the pan. Pour the milk very gently into this place, being careful not to wet the flour above the point where the milk will come when it is all poured in. Now add the dissolved yeast, stirring gently at the bottom of the pan. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place for four hours; then stir the mixture until a dough is formed. Add the butter or lard, and knead on the board for twenty minutes. Do not use any flour in kneading. Put the dough back in the bowl; cover, and set in a warm place to rise to nearly three times the original size (it will take about three hours for this). Next put the dough on the board and roll down to the thickness of half an inch. Cut the dough with an oval cutter. Place a small round stick on the roll, about one third of the distance from the end. Press with the stick until the dough is half as thick here as in other parts. Fold the short end of the dough over, and the roll will be shaped. A little soft butter may be placed between the folds. Place the rolls in a buttered pan, having them a little way apart. Cover, and set in rather a cool place—say seventy degrees—until the rolls are risen to a little more than double the original size. Bake them in a moderately hot oven for twenty minutes.