About nine o'clock in the evening she added the reserved pint of (lukewarm) potato water and 1/2 tablespoonful of salt to the yeast sponge, with enough warmed, well-dried flour to stiffen, and kneaded it until dough was fine-grained.

She also cut through the dough frequently with a sharp knife.

When the dough was elastic and would not adhere to molding-board or hands, she placed it in a bowl, brushed melted lard or butter over top to prevent a crust forming, covered warmly with a cloth and allowed it to stand until morning.

Frau Schmidt always rose particularly early on bake day, for fear the sponge might fall or become sour, if allowed to stand too long.

She molded the dough into four small loaves, placed it in pans to rise until it doubled its original bulk.