Portuguese Sweet Bread

Add yeast and water into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer that is equipped with a paddle attachment. Let it stand for about 5 minutes at which point it should look bubbly and foamy.

Add milk, sugar, butter and the first listed amount of eggs to the bowl. Blend until ingredients are incorporated. Add salt and 3 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Slowly add 2 1/2 cups more of flour and beat for about 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate ingredients. If the batter seems wet, slowly add up to a cup of additional flour until the dough begins to firm up and clump around to the paddle. Continue beating for a couple of minutes.

Change to the hook attachment and continue beating at medium high. The dough should quickly start to ball up around the hook. Beat for 5 to 6 minutes total with the hook attachment. At the end of this period, the majority of the dough should be wrapped around the hook. It should be smooth and silky, yet slightly tacky. It should also be slightly elastic and spring back a bit when stretched. There may be some dough smeared against the sides of the bowl.

Using a rubber spatula or your slightly greased hands, scrape the dough and form into a ball. Place into a greased bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and a towel. Place in a warm area such as under a light to rise until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours).

Punch down dough and divide in half. Shape each into a round flat loaf and place each one into a buttered and floured round 8-inch pan. Allow to rise and double in size, about 1 hour. At the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Beat the remaining egg and brush the top of each loaf. Sprinkle with sugar.

Place in the preheated 350 F oven and bake for about 25 to 35 minutes, until the crust is medium to dark amber (mine was done at the lower end of the time frame). Test for doneness using a long wooden skewer (it’s done when a few crumbs stick to the skewer), or check for an internal temperature of 190 F. Over baking will dry out the bread. Remove pans from oven. Remove the bread from the pans once removed from the oven. Serve with butter.

Tip: For a softer crust, rub with butter while still hot out of the oven.

This recipe is an adaptation of Leah’s Kitchen recipe from food.com.