Portuguese Sweet Bread
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| recipe courtesy of peter reinhart's the bread baker's apprentice |
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| | sponge |
| 1/2 cup | unbleached bread flour |
| 1 Tbsp | granulated sugar |
| 2-1/4 tsp | instant yeast |
| 1/2 | water, at room temperature |
| | dough |
| 6 Tbsp | granulated sugar |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 1/4 cup | powdered milk |
| 2 Tbsp | unsalted butter, at room temperature |
| 2 Tbsp | vegetable shortening |
| 2 large | eggs |
| 1 tsp | lemon extract |
| 1 tsp | orange extract |
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract |
| 3 cup | unbleached bread flour |
| | about 6 tablespoons water, at room temperature |
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| to make the sponge, stir together the flour, sugar, and yeast in a |
| small bowl. add the water and stir until all the ingredients are |
| hydrated and make a smooth batter. cover the bowl with plastic wrap |
| and ferment at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the |
| sponge gets foamy and seems on the verge of collapse. |
| to make the dough, combine the sugar, salt, powdered milk, butter, |
| and shortening in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or the bowl of an electric |
| mixer). cream together with a sturdy spoon (or the paddle attachment) |
| until smooth, then mix in the eggs and the extracts. knead by hand |
| (or switch to the dough hook attachment) and mix in the sponge and |
| the flour. add the water, as needed, to make a very soft dough. the |
| finished dough should be very supple and soft, easy to knead, and not |
| wet or sticky. it will take 10 to 12 minutes with the electric mixer |
| and close to 15 minutes by hand to achieve this consistency. (dough |
| with high amounts of fat and sugar usually take longer to knead |
| because the gluten requires more time to set up.) the finished dough |
| should pass the windowpane test (see note below) and register 77 to |
| 88 degrees f. lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the |
| bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. cover the bowl with |
| plastic wrap. |
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| ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the |
| dough doubles in size. |
| remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into two equal pieces. |
| form each of the pieces into a boule. lightly oil two 9-inch pie pans |
| and place 1 boule, seam side down, in each pan. mist the dough with |
| spray oil and loosely cover the pans with plastic wrap. |
| proof at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, or until the dough fills |
| the pans fully, doubling in size and overlapping the edges slightly. |
| (if you only want to bake one loaf, you may retard the second in the |
| fridge for 1 day, although it will take 4 to 5 hours to proof after |
| it comes out of the refrigerator.) |
| very gently brush the loaves with egg wash. preheat the oven to 350 |
| degrees f with the oven rack on the middle shelf. |
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| bake the loaves for 50 to 60 minutes, or until they register 190 f in |
| the center. after 30 minutes, check the loaves and rotate 180 |
| degrees, if necessary, for even baking. because of the high amount of |
| sugar, the dough will brown very quickly, but don't be fooled into |
| thinking it is done. it will get darker as the center gradually |
| catches up with the outside, but it will not burn. the final color |
| will be a rich mahogany brown. |
| remove the bread from the pie pans and place on a rack to cool. the |
| bread will soften as it cools, resulting in a very soft, squishy |
| loaf. allow the bread to cool for at least 90 minutes before slicing |
| or serving. |
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| (ID: 6958) Mirror: rec.food.recipes: Thu, Jul 15, 2004 |