1/2 c Water; Lukewarm
1 tb Sugar
2 pk Active Dry Yeast; *See Note
1 1/2 c Milk; Scalded, And Cooled
3 tb Sugar
1 tb Salt
3 Egg; Lightly Beaten
1/4 c Shortening Or Butter;
-Softened
7 c All-Purpose Flour; To 7 1/2
-Cups
1 Egg Yolk
1 tb Cold Water
Sesame Seeds
*Years ago when I made this bread I used to use 1 Tablespoon yeast.
Measure water, add 1 tbsp. sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Sprinkle
yeast over and let stand 10 minutes. Put scalded, lukewarm milk into large
bowl. Add 3 tbsp. sugar, salt, eggs and shortening and beat together. Add
half of flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Add enough of
remaining flour to make a fairly stiff dough that is easy to handle. Mix
very well with hands. Turn out on floured board and knead until dough is
smooth and small bubbles appear under the surface (about 5 minutes). Round
up and put in greased bowl. Grease top of dough, cover with a damp cloth
and set in a warm place. Let rise until double in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).
Punch down and let rise again until nearly double (about 45 minutes). Punch
down again. Shape dough into balls (just as for dinner rolls), making them
just large enough to half-fill your chosen flower pots (I used one 7- pot,
one 6-inch pot and one 5-inch pot). Put balls in well-greased pots and set
in a warm place. Let dough rise until level with the tops of the pots. Heat
oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg yolk and cold water together lightly with a
fork. Brush over tops of loaves and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.
Bake about 1 hour or until loaves sound hollow when tapped lightly on top.
Cover with aluminum foil if loaves start to brown too much on top. Let
stand in pots 5 minutes. Loosen carefully and turn out on racks to finish
cooling. Note: Bake dough in three 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans if desired.
Yields
3 Servings