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Bread

Sweet Bread

Well, in spirit anyway.

This is a modified Portuguese Sweet Bread recipe. Specifically, I’ve attempted to replace the sugar with honey as the sweetener. First the recipe, then the results. If you’re at all interested in trying it, be sure to read the recipe prior to starting.

  • 6 cups white flour(better be high gluten)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup honey
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp yeast
  • 3/4 stick unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup water

First, scald the milk. After that, add about 1/4 cup of the honey to the milk and then allow it to cool to below 120 degrees Fahrenheit (basically, until it’s just warm to the touch). It needs to be cool enough so that it doesn’t kill the yeast. When its cooled enough, add 1 cup of flour and the tbsp of yeast to make a sponge. Set the sponge aside and allow the yeast to start working. The idea is to encourage yeast development in the presence of the honey, since the recipe itself has much more to follow.

While the sponge is working, put the rest of the flour in the bowl of a mixer and cut the butter up into chunks. Use the mixer to cut the butter into the flour. I use the paddle attachment and run the mixer at 2 (otherwise it’s a snowstorm…) and then add the chunks of butter one at a time.

After all the butter has been added, allow the mixer to continue to work.

In the meantime, beat the eggs in a bowl and then add the honey and work the two together. Add the 1/4 cup of water. When the egg mixture is ready, swap out he paddle mixer for a dough hook (you’ll probably want to stop the mixer to do that…) add the egg mixture to the flour and start the mixer on a low setting to start combining. After the flour has absorbed the mixture add the tablespoon of salt. When everything is combined, stop the mixer and allow the proto-dough to rest.

When the sponge has visibly risen (I let rise about 1/2 cup) add it to the mixer bowl and fire it up. I start it out at 2 until its started to combine, then move up to 4. Knead the dough until it clears the side of the bowl. This process will take awhile. I actually kicked the setting up to 5 to speed up the process.

After the knead process has completed, put it into a lightly oiled container and allow the dough to double in volume. When it’s doubled, it’s time to shape the dough. I simply poured the dough onto a lightly floured surface, gently shape it into a rough rectangle and then bill-fold it (fold bottom third up, then fold top third down). Complete the shaping by again patting it into a rectangle and then folding it in half. I have a large (14 inch) loaf pan, so I used that to allow the dough to proof.

For the more typical 5×9 loaf pans, after the shaping split the dough in half. Just tuck the ends under prior to placing the dough in the pans.

Preheat the oven for 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Allow the dough to again double in volume (roughly 45 minutes). Once proofing is completed, bake it for about 1/2 hour. Keep an eye on it to make sure the crust doesn’t over-caramelize. When done baking, take the bread out of the pan, cover it with a towel and allow it to cool for about 1/2 hour.

So how did it end up? First, the 400 degree oven was too hot. My crust was way to close to black, instead of the deep brown color I was expecting. Taste wise, the bread wasn’t as sweet as I’d expected. Next time I’d go for 350 and allow it to cook longer. Also, I probably should have used an additional 1/4 cup of honey and eliminated the water. Further, I think I should probably have just added all the honey to the scalded milk, as well as the eggs and then added that mixture to the flour and made the dough. This change eliminates the sponge step, so I’d expect the rise time to go up.

That said, the bread isn’t bad in it’s own right. It has a definite sweet flavor to it. The texture is very soft and chewy. It toasts up very nicely and is good with butter or peanut butter. Basically, a good breakfast bread.

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