Conference turris::cooks

    Portugese sweetbread is very similar (if not identical) to Hawaiian
    bread.  I know the supermarkets in the greater Maynard area sell
    this bread.  
    
    Lynne

                 <Recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Bread>


Here is a recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Bread.  It says for high altitude no
change, but I had no problems in Oklahoma and haven't quite gotten it in
Colorado.  This is the recipe as I used it in Oklahoma (no high altitude 
there)!  Let me know how it goes!


6-1/2 to 7 cups all purpose unbleached flour  (self-rising flour not 
                                               recommended)
3/4 cup Hungry Jack Mashed Potato Flakes
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup pineapple juice, room temperature
3 eggs

Grease three 8 or 9-inch round cake pans.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring
cup; level off.  In large bowl, combine 3 cups flour, mashed potato flakes,
sugar, salt, ginger, vanilla, and yeast.  In medium saucepan, heat milk, water
and margarine until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F.).  Add warm liquid, 
pineapple juice and eggs to flour mixture.  Blend at low speed until 
moistened; beat 4 minutes at medium speed.  By hand, stir in 3 cups flour to
form a stiff dough.  On floured surface, knead in 1/2 to 1 cup flour until 
smooth and elastic, about 5 to 8 minutes.  Place in greased bowl; cover loosely
with plastic wrap and cloth towel.  Let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees
F.) until light and doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Punch down dough.  Divide dough into three parts; form into round balls.  Place
in prepared pans.  Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in
size, about 1 hour.  Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake 25 to 35 minutes or 
until loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped.  Remove from pans immediately.
3 loaves.

    It's a very sweet, kind of yellow-colored, soft white bread baked in
    round loaves.  It's big around here (near HLO) because there are
    a lot of Portuguese people in the area, but I don't like it: it's
    too sweet for me.  There was a note in this file or somewhere else
    (?) comparing it some kind of Hawaiian bread, which you can try
    to find if you really want to make the stuff.  I don't have a recipe
    for it (the local product tastes to me like "wonder bread" with
    a whole lot of extra sugar - I don't even like it made into French
    toast - but some people are really fond of buying it fresh from
    the Portuguese bakery).

    The Portuguese sweet bread I buy (haven't yet tried to make it)
    in Nashua is a soft, sour dough based, sweet bread with lots of egg
    yolks.  I'll try to get the list of ingredients.  I doubt if it
    has any fruit juice in it.
    
    The panetonne that I make are butter and egg based with almost no
    water.  Very different bread.  Both are habit (and waist line) forming. 

    Wonder bread!  Imagine comparing Portuguese masa to wonder bread!
        
    Also Hawaiian bread and Portuguese bread are NOT the same.  But
    since many Portuguese settled in Hawaii there probably was some
    influence.
    
    There is one basic recipe, which I will key in tomorrow. (But I am
    so outraged I have to set you Americans straight immediately.)
    
    The recipe calls for about a dozen eggs, so you can imagine the
    richness.  It is not overly sweet.  And it is not sour-dough based.
    I warn you it IS difficult to make.
    
    I have bought it at Silva's Bakery in Hudson, Ma. Their smaller
    loaves are better quality. But nobody makes it like my Voa.
    
    The Christmas version adds candied fruits, currants etc.  The Easter
    adds the fruits and whole, boiled, colored eggs are added late in
    cooking.
    
    Senorena C. Duluz Viera Ferreria d'Medeiros

I suspect there are a very large number of very different breads known 
as "Portuguese Sweet Bread".  I buy one at Lucia's Portuguese Bakery 
in Nashua.  I believe the owners (=bakers) immigrated here from Portugal 
about twenty years ago.  Their bread is delicious.

She gave me the recipe two days ago, but I haven't yet tried it.  It is 
indeed a yeast-aided sour-dough, albeit so mild that I cannot notice the 
taste of sourdough in the result.  She says the yeast is not at all 
needed since the sourdough provides a yeast, but the addition 
accelerates the process --- as it is, it takes eleven hours or so --- 
and she needs the work space for other products.

The recipe includes the basic yeast, water, flour, salt, and starter 
plus sugar, eggs, and butter.  If my interpretation and scaling of the 
quantities are correct, it is a very rich dough with [per two loaves] 
a cup of sugar, 5 whole eggs, and 1/4 lb of butter.  Almost a cake.

    I have a delicious Portugese Sweet Bread recipe. This recipe makes 6
    loaves but if you want less just do half of the recipe.
    
    
    12 cups of flour                 2 TBLSP of Crisco Butter Shortening
    4  cups of sugar                 2 bags of yeast
    20 eggs                          4 TBLSP of Brandy
    1  cup of Mazola corn oil        3 cups of milk
    2  sticks of butter melted       1 TBLSP Lemon Extract
                                     1 tsp   salt
    
    Preheat oven 350 degrees for half an hour before you bake. Mix together 
    the sugar and the eggs now add the rest of the ingredients. Knead it
    till the dough doesn't stick to your fingers. Let the dough rise for
    six or seven hours. The loaf pans should be greased, separate
    the dough into the 6 individual loaf pans. Let them rise for 3 more
    hours and then put them in the oven to bake for 45 minutes or until
    golden brown. 

    I doubt that .3 recipe is genuine Portuguese sweet bread because
    Portugal does not have either Crisco butter shortening or Mazola oil,
    those are american products that if found in Portugal are very rare, 
    can only be found in specialty shops and only near big cities and at
    outrageous prices, (as all imported foreign goods) and sporadically
    available only. There are many oils in the market, mainly olive, soy, 
    safflower... regarding Crisco, the only thing close enough to it is
    pure "manteca blanca" or lard, used to make cookies and cook certain
    types of meats that later are kept in earthenware jars... I've eaten
    sweet Portuguese bread all my life both, in Portugal and here in New
    England, and there is a difference, most of Portuguese breads are made
    with white corn flour... (not the yellow corn meal/flour needed for our
    traditional corn bread).  Boston has a few shops with great bread, but
    the best, in my opinion, can be found in and near New Bedford...

                         MASA SAVADA FAIT IM CASA
                         
              (Home made sweet bread -- the Portuguese name
             above is written phonetically, I don't know how
                       to spell any of the words)
                          
                           (Makes four loaves)

       10 cups flour            1 cup milk
       2-1/2 cups sugar         3 pkg. yeast (Flieschmanns, etc)
       8 eggs                   1 tsp  salt
       3/4 cup butter           3 TBS shortening for handling dough
       
       
       Mix the yeast with 1/2 cup of lukewarm water. Heat the milk until
       lukewarm, then add the butter and salt. Beat eggs and sugar for 3
       to 4 minutes. Add the milk, butter and salt mixture, the yeast and
       8 cups of flour. Add balance of the flour as needed to obtain a
       workable consistency. Now knead the dough until it is smooth and
       does not stick to your hands;  this might take 20 minutes.
       
       Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a cloth, and let it rise in
       a warm place for 4 to 6 hours, or until it doubles in size. If the
       dough falls when touched lightly with your finger, it has risen
       enough.  Shape into desired loaves and place in greased, floured
       baking pans*; let rise again, for 2 to 3 hours. Cut small
       diagonal slits about 1/4" deep across the top of the loaves, and
       brush the loaves with a beaten egg. Bake loaves at 300 degrees for
       45 minutes to an hour. 
       
       At Easter time raw eggs are placed in the the sweet bread dough,
       at the top of each loaf. Traditionally, there is one egg for each
       member of the family.

       The baking pans should be round, tapering outward, about 6"
       diameter at the bottom and maybe 8" at the top.

re: -.1

Novice bakers, please be aware that times to rise dough are approximate:

rising times for yeast breads vary with temperature and humidity.  When 
allowing dough to rise the first time, allow it to rise until approx. doubled
in size and "formable" - when you poke a finger into the batter, the hole
should remain after you remove the finger.  At that point the dough has
risen to the point necessary for optimum texture.  In a kitchen at approx.
80 degrees farenheit, this will take between 1 and 2 hours, unless the dough
contains a great deal of whole grain flour which is "heavier".  Once the loaves
of bread are formed, cover them and allow them to rise until approx.
doubled in size.  This should take less time than the original rising, and
I usually get loaves ready to bake in approx. 45 minutes to an hour.  It should
not take more than 1.5 hours unless you are using very heavy whole-grains,
or your yeast is too old...or your kitchen is very cold (under 70 degrees
farenheit).

Allowing the dough to over-rise can have a negative effect on consistency.

			That crusty old bread baker,

				    D