portuguese sweet bread

It has been an interesting week.  Our internet provider was down (fiber line cut and needing repair).  I have been injured and walking across the house has been hard.  I am better and finally got to bicycle to work yesterday after a week of not.  It made me smile.  Even though it was chilly, the ride made me smile.  I am hoping to be healed enough to skate tomorrow.  It is a wait and see.

One of the things I like about the holidays is that there are so many more recipes running around.  I actually came across a few bread recipes I wished to try.  This one was on npr.org and they were talking about this portuguese sweet bread.  They were talking about family memories and such.  I decided to give it a try, mostly because I have been enjoying putting my hands in dough so much.  I think I could bake every day this week or next week.  People at work are in stress mode and there is only so much I can do so fast.  Part of making so much dough is that I try new recipes.  And I am finding I have more people to share the makings with.

I find this dough is really mild, even with the secret ingredient.  I do like it toasted and with jam.  I really think it is one of those of is it to your taste or not.  I probably will not make it again but it is a good one to have as a just in case or as a basis for something else.

By the way, I used sourdough like always.

portuguese sweet bread

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup milk

1 cup sugar

6 plus cups flour

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

3 eggs

2 tablespoons whiskey or lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

The night before you wish to make the bread, mix the sourdough starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water together.  Cover and let sit overnight and let get bubbly.  When you are ready the next day, take out a couple of tablespoons of starter for the next time.

Add the milk, sugar, butter, eggs, and whiskey into the starter.  Add 1 cup of flour to help the mixing process.  Add the salt and mix well.  Add enough of the rest of the 6 cups of flour to make a stiff dough.  You may need more.  Turn out onto a clean, floured surface and knead until smooth or ten minutes.

Put in a clean(ed) bowl and cover.  Let rise until double.

Punch down.  Butter two cake pans or loaf pans.  I did the loaf pans.  Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour ( I find 1 hour works best with sourdough).

Like I said, good toast.  I am a toast person.  I do have other recipes that turn out as well without as much sugar, eggs, and milk so I will probably use those instead.  I could not tell any significant difference with the whiskey added.  Maybe you could if you did not use sourdough.  What is sourdough, really?  Homemade hooch (that is the liquid that separates).