This method works, but how? The baking powder starts its action as soon as you mix the

dough and slowly continues in your refrigerator overnight. You won't lose any bubbles. The rest of

the rising happens in the oven with the second set of chemicals in the double-acting baking powder.

This method actually produces lighter, better-risen breads and muffins than a freshly-mixed batter.

I encourage you to turn your own kitchen into a testing lab and check it out. Make two

identical quick breads. Mix one the night before, the other one just before baking. Bake them

together and compare!

Baking Yeast Bread

The difference between quick breads and yeast breads is a matter of taste. Some love quick

breads, but most of us would take a good fresh-baked yeast bread any time. Bakeries sell far more

yeast breads than quick breads. Though quick breads are neither breads nor desserts, they are great

choice for breakfast, brunch or a coffee break. A good, fresh yeast bread, on the other hand, can be a

feast by itself. Accompanied by a bit of good cheese or sausage, a pâté or just plain good butter,

even fresh fruit, it becomes a nutritious repast. Add a glass of wine and you have a meal that is truly

divine.

TASTINGS Fresh, warm bread in minutes

You can parbake bread dough, that is, you partially bake it, then take it out of the

oven about 10 minutes before it is fully brown. After cooling you can store the

parbaked bread in the freezer or just hold it until serving time. Just before serving

you pop it back in the oven and finish baking for an absolutely fresh but quick

result. That is how good restaurants serve their warm fresh-baked bread to

accompany the meal. Commercial bakers deliver frozen parbaked breads and the

cook defrosts enough for the day. He or she pops them in the oven for a few

minutes to brown just as the hostess seats you. By the time you order, the warm

bread is in the basket. This trick is open to your kitchen but you need to plan

ahead.

Even though bread making is relatively simple, it is not like boiling potatoes. There are a

few precautions you must be aware of or the bread-baking turns into disaster. Start with a simple

bread recipe to practice on. Most breads have only four major ingredients: flour, water, yeast and

salt. Even the proportion of these ingredients doesn't vary from bread to bread. The amount of yeast

you use may varies somewhat.

Proof your yeast

Yeast cells don't stay dormant forever, they slowly lose their potency. Under improperly-

stored conditions the cells may die altogether. So whenever you start with a new batch of yeast from

the store, proof it first to make sure it is alive.

Proofing is easy. Stir and dissolve the yeast in a small amount of warmwater. (Don't add dry

yeast all at once or it may clump into solid globs—sprinkle in slowly while stirring.) Add a

generous pinch of sugar to provide food for the yeast. Many little bubbles rising to the surface after

about 5 minutes prove that your yeast is as alive as you are. In 10 minutes the liquid should look as

if it is just about to come to a slow boil—if not, the yeast is dead.

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