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Kindred’s milk bread is delicious. (Here's an alternate link in case that link doesn’t work for you.)

I’m curious though: the recipe calls for two tablespoons of yeast (for 5 cups of flour), more than I’ve ever put into a dough before. Why does it call for so much yeast?

Does an enriched dough always require more yeast? Or is it that this recipe kills most of the yeast by stirring it into hot liquid? Or is it probably just a typo, and 2 teaspoons would be fine?

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  • The link will not load load to show the recipe!
    – Cynetta
    Jul 21, 2018 at 20:46
  • That's odd. OK, I added an alternative link to the question.
    – Jason Orendorff
    Jul 21, 2018 at 21:05
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    If you watch the video, it is definitely tablespoons.
    – user58697
    Jul 21, 2018 at 21:05
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    Sometimes, as in salmon cakes, yeast is added as a flavoring. Perhaps here too? It adds a nice taste to some recipes.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Jul 21, 2018 at 23:34
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    Speaking from experience, do not leave this dough unwatched. It may rise much faster than you expect. I'm really doubting the 1 hour rise time; I made biscuits with 2 Tbs of yeast, and they rose in less than 20 minutes.
    – FuzzyChef
    Jul 26, 2018 at 4:57

2 Answers 2

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Having that much yeast is doing two things for this recipe:

  • It will give it a nicely yeasty flavor
  • It will shorten the rise time.

Yeast requires water to be active. This recipe, as is often the case with enriched doughs, has very little water in it. There is water in the cream and the eggs but not much and the yeast will be competing for it with the sugar. Because of this rich doughs often take a long time to rise.

This recipe was used by a restaurant that probably needs faster rises. The cost of the yeast is cheaper than the cost of the extra time to rise. The extra yeasty flavor is a bonus.

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The amount of yeast in a recipe is a bit deceptive, as the yeast will multiply as you prove the dough if things are working properly anyway. In other words you end up with quite a bit more yeast through the various rise stages.

Most recipes, however, start with less yeast for two reasons:

  • less yeast is cheaper
  • less yeast increases the prove time (where flavours are developed)

For this recipe, it may be aiming for a faster rise time for effect (or just to be quicker), or it may be reducing risk of failure (as adding more older yeast will perform better than less).

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