Bread

Put your flour into
A good deep mug,
Which will bear a weight
And many a tug.

To six pounds of flour
Three spoonfuls of barm*,
Mixed with some water
That must be luke-warm.

Put this in the midst
Of the mug of flour,
Which stir gently in
And leave for an hour.

Then pour on the whole
More clean warm water,
Two spoonfuls of salt,
Knead up like mortar.

Again all must stand
Not far from the fire,
Till it has risen
As you could desire.

When that is all done
You out the dough take,
And shape into loaves,
Which soon you can bake.

“Bread” (#23), Cookery Rhymes. The Nineteenth Century. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey. Original from The British Library. The original citation is from Cookery Rhymes, Simple Remedies, and Useful Hints, Intended for Girls’ Day Schools by Miss Potter, 7th ed. London: Jarrold and Sons, 1862.

Noun 1.barm - a commercial leavening agent containing yeast cells; used to raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.