MUFFINS

Take one pint of milk quite warm, and a quarter of a pint of thick small-beer yeast; strain them into a pan, and add sufficient flour to make it like a batter; cover it over, and let it stand in a warm place until it has risen; then add a quarter of a pint of warm milk, and one ounce of butter rubbed in some flour quite fine; mix them well together; then add sufficient flour to make it into dough, cover it over, and let it stand half an hour; then work it up again, and break it into small pieces; roll them up quite round, and cover them over for a quarter of an hour; then bake them.

From The Cook's Own Book by "A Boston Housekeeper" (Mrs. N. K. M. Lee), Boston, 1832

Comment: The "thick small-beer yeast" called for here would today be known as a yeast starter, a moist batter-like product sometimes sold in small stone jars to be used to make sourdough breads. A friend who homebrews beer is a good thing to have, but if you have yet to make such an acquaintance, prepare a yeast starter with such commercial yeast as you have on hand. The breeding of distinct varieties of yeasts for bread versus beer making had not yet come into being in the 19th century anyway.

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