‘If you are sure of the goodness of the yeast you use it will not much matter which of them you follow. The quickest and easiest mode is to wet it up at once; the safest to guard against failure is to set a sponge thus: Put the flour into a large earthenware bowl or deep pan, then with a strong metal or wooden spoon hollow out the middle, but do not clear it entirely away from the bottom of the pan, as in that case the sponge (or leaven as it was formerly termed) would stick to it, which it ought not to do. Next take either a large tablespoonful of brewer’s yeast, which has been rendered solid by mixing it with cold water and letting it afterwards stand to settle for a day and a night, or nearly an ounce of fresh German yeast. Put it into a large basin and then proceed to mix it, so that it shall be as smooth as cream, with three-quarters of a pint or even a whole pint of just warm milk and water or water only, though even a very little milk will much improve the bread. To have it quite free from lumps you must pour in the liquid by spoonfuls just at the beginning, and stir and work it round well to mix it perfectly with the yeast before you add the remainder, otherwise it would probably cause the bread to be full of large holes, which ought never to be seen in it. Pour the yeast into the hole in the middle of the flour, and stir into it as much of that which lies around it as will make a thick batter, in which, remember, there must be no lumps. If there should seem to be any you must beat them out with the spoon. Strew plenty of flour on the top, throw a thick clean cloth over, and set it where the air is warm; but if there is a large fire do not place it upon the kitchen fender in front of it, as servants often do, for it will become too much heated there; but let it always be raised from the floor, and protected from constant draughts of air passing over it. Look at it from time to time when it has been laid for nearly an hour, and when you perceive that the yeast has risen and broken through the flour, and that bubbles appear in it, you will know that it is ready to be made up into dough. Then place the pan on a strong chair or dresser, or table of convenient height; pour into the sponge a little warm milk and water (about a pint and a quarter will be required altogether for the quartern of bread), so that if three-quarters of a pint was mixed with the yeast at first there will be half a pint to add. Sometimes a little more will be needed; but be always careful not to make the dough too moist; stir into it as much flour as you can with the spoon, then wipe it out clean with your fingers and lay it aside.