Portuguese Honey Bread Recipes

PORTUGUESE SWEET BREAD I

Steps:

• Add ingredients in order suggested by your manufacturer.
• Select "sweet bread" setting.

PORTUGUESE HONEY BREAD

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter loaf pans.
• Bring cranberries, candied fruit, and Port to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside, covered.
• Pulse walnuts in a food processor until just coarsely chopped. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and spices and pulse to combine.
• Beat together butter (2 1/2 sticks) and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes in a stand mixer or 6 with a handheld. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Stir together yeast and warm water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Add one third of flour mixture to butter mixture and mix at low speed until combined, then add molasses and mix until incorporated. Add half of remaining flour mixture and mix until combined, then add honey and mix until incorporated. Add yeast mixture and remaining flour mixture and mix until combined, then stir in candied-fruit mixture.
• Divide batter among pans, smoothing tops. (Do not let batter rise.) Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in centers of loaves comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then remove loaves from pans and cool completely on rack.

PORTUGUESE SWEET BREAD

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

PORTUGUESE SWEET BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve 3 yeast cakes in 1/2 cup warm water, (not hot). Add 2 cups warm, nonfat milk (or scalded whole milk slightly cooled) and 3 cups flour, and 1 teaspoon salt. Whisk together and set aside to proof yeast.
• In a separate bowl, add 1dozen fresh eggs, sugar, and lemon juice. Beat well and then add melted butter.
• Add yeast mixture, the remaining flour and 2 tablespoons of salt. Mix well and let rest for 10 to 20 minutes.
• Continue mixing until dough begins to pull away from bowl or knead with greased hands until dough pulls away from your hands. This takes a while and the dough is sticky unlike bread dough. Place in greased bowl and cover to let rise to double, about 1 to 3 hours.
• Punch down, turn over, and let rise to double a second time.
• Carefully break away about 2/3 pound of dough at a time, rolling dough into a nice loaf shape and place into greased loaf pans. This should make about 5 to 7 nice loafs. Let rise until double in the pans for a third rising.
• Make two to three 1/4-inch slits on the top of each loaf and then brush tops with 1 beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of water.
• Bake at 325 degrees F for about 10 minutes and then reduce heat to about 300 degrees F for another 25 to 30 minutes.
• Remove loaves from the oven and lay them on their side on a rack for a couple of minutes before removing from the pan.

PORTUGUESE WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in order listed in bread machine.
• Let it run on the white bread cycle.
• Enjoy.

PORTUGUESE SWEET BREAD III

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, beat 6 eggs and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the dissolved yeast, the egg and sugar mixture and the cooled, melted butter. Slowly add the milk to the flour mixture until the dough is of working consistency. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until the dough is soft and elastic, about 15 minutes. Place into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Set aside to rise overnight.
• The next morning, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease two 10 inch round cake pans. Divide dough in half, shape into round loaves, and place into prepared pans. Brush the tops with beaten egg.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for another 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

NO-KNEAD BROA (PORTUGUESE CORN BREAD)

Steps:

• MIXING INSTRUCTIONS:.
• Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a 5 quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
• Add oil and honey.
• Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, usings a spoon or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook.
• Note:: If not using a mixer you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of the flour.
• Cover (not airthight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
• The dough can be used immediately after rising, however it is easier to handle when cold.
• Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days.
• BAKING INSTRUCTIONS:.
• Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit size piece (1 lb.).
• Dust with more flour and quickily shape into a ball by stretching the surface of dough around to the bottom on all four sides, roating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.
• Flatten the top slightly and allow to rest on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 40 minutes.
• Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat oven to 450º F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack.
• Place a cast iron skillet or empty broiler tray on the bottom rack.
• Sprinkle loaf liberally with cornmeal and slash the top using a serrated bread knife.
• Slide loaf directly onto the hot stone.
• Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the skillet or broiler tray and quickly close the door.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until top of crust is dark brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.
• Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
• Allow to cool before slicing.