Have got some fresh yeast - now what to do with it! Please help before it goes off!

[Flibbertyjibbet]

I bought 1oz fresh yeast from our baker Saturday. All my recipes are for breadmaker using dried instant yeast.
I want to do proper hand made bread with the children today and use the fresh yeast.
What do I do with it? Crumble it into ingredients? Add warm water and wait?

No idea!

If anyone has a recipe for loaf or rolls using fresh yeast I'll be very grateful.

With fresh yeast you have to dissolve it in a bit of warm water and wait until it's started frothing before you add it to the rest of the mixture.

Here's one recipe, hope this isn't too late for you.

Basic Bread Dough (from The Complete Bread Book by Gail Duff. Comments in brackets are from me.)

1 oz (25 g) fresh yeast or 1 tbsp dried yeast
10 fl oz (275 ml) warm water
sugar, optional
1 tbsp salt
1 lb (450 g) flour, plus extra for kneading

1. Weigh out the yeast
2. Pour half the water into a small bowl. Crumble the fresh yeast into it. Leave this mixture for the yeast to begin to work, about 2-5 mins for fresh yeast.
3. Dissolve the salt in the remaining water.
4. Place the flour in the mixing bowl.
5. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix in a little of the flour from the sides of the well. Pour in the remaining water with the salt dissolved in it and, using a long, round-bladed knife or tablespoon, begin to mix everything together to make a dough. Bring it all together into a rough ball with your fingers. It will be a lumpy, uneven mixture of dry pieces and wet pieces.
6. Sprinkle some flour on your work surface. Turn the dough onto it, scraping it from the sides of the bowl. Push it together into a rough round.
7. Knead the bread. When you knead the dough you are producing a smooth mixture, assisting the development of gluten, and pushing out any pockets of air that might eventually make a hole in the loaf. (Here she gives a description of kneading which I'm sure is not really necessary, as I suspect everyone has their own method anyway.) After 5 mins you should notice that the flour and water have become evenly mixed and the texture of the dough is changing. The more you knead, the more the bread will be able to rise. Most people knead for 5 to 7 mins, but do not go over 10 mins.

If you have judged the liquid correctly and the dough is a plain one, you will not have to use much extra flour as you knead. Use just enough to keep your hands and the work surface dry.

1. When your dough is ready, return it to the bowl to rise or 'prove'.
2. Cut a cross in the top of the dough. Ancient folklore tells us that this is to keep the devil out. Actually, it helps the dough to rise.

10. Cover the bowl with a clean, dry cloth. 11. Place the bowl of dough somewhere where it will keep warm. If you have turned the oven on but not the rings, stand the bowl on top. It can also go near a radiator, on a covered wood-burning or solid-fuel burning stove, on the central heating boiler or on a sunny windowsill, as long as the position is draught-free. Leave the dough until it has doubled in size. The average time is about an hour, but plain doughs often rise in half the time (she says). 12. Knead the dough again. It is now ready for shaping. 13. (Place on an oiled baking sheet or into an oiled bread tin.) 14. (Cover and leave to rise again for 25-40 mins.) 15. (Bake in a pre-heated oven 220C/Gas7 for 35-40 mins for a loaf. I don't have a time for rolls but maybe check after 15-20 mins.)

Thanks it wasn't too late, it is just 'proving' on top of the oven right now and dp looking forward to some with my home made jam on for supper.
Thanks for your efforts I am going to cut and paste this to print out - I've been back and forwards from kitchen to computer a million times while mixing and kneading!

hope it all worked out flibbertyjibbet