Yeast · ELIX

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Yeast is a fungus, a cousin of mushrooms. But each yeast is just one cell.
It makes more yeast by budding: a baby cell grows out of the parent and breaks off.
It eats sugar and gives off carbon dioxide gas. Changing sugar like this is called fermentation.
The gas bubbles make bread dough rise. That's why bread is soft and full of tiny holes!
Dry yeast from the shop is asleep. Warm water and sugar wake it up. The oven's heat kills it.