According to Clayton, this is an old (late 19th or early 20th century) Shaker recipe. It bakes up a lovely, fine-crumbed white loaf. I appreciate the ease with which it comes together. And, while not nearly as rich as something like a brioche, the milk, lard, and hint of sugar does give it a nice little something extra.

Since I've been struggling to keep up with my starter lately, I opted to add a bit of discard into my dough. Feel free to omit this and just use a little extra flour and water instead though if, unlike me, you don't have a huge pile of starter/discard looking for a purpose.

Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard
• 800g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 120g sourdough discard
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine water, milk, sugar, salt, and lard and gently warm to 40-45°C.
2. Combine the flour and yeast and mix well.
3. Add the starter to the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry while stirring with a dough hook or a wooden spoon.
5. Knead by hook for 7-8 minutes or by hand for 20-30.
6. Round, cover, and allow to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes (depending on temperature of room).
7. Knock back, divide into two equal portions, round each portion, cover, and rest for 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
9. Shape each dough ball into a loaf and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared loaf pans.
10. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for another 45-60 minutes (depending on temperature).
11. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and brush tops of loaves with melted butter.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes.
13. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.

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Variants

Non-Instant Yeast Version

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. warm water (~40°C)
• 2 1/4 tsp. acitve dry yeast
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard
• 860g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast into warm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. Proceed with recipe as directed, adding yeast mixture to dough along with other wet ingredients.