Portuguese Sweet Bread with Honey

Eek, five months. Well I have two words for you.

1. Morning sickness, horribly severe, lasting from the beginning of July until the end of September (but as unpleasant as it was I did lose 10 lbs, and considering I started this pregnancy at a weight I was not happy with I guess it was a good thing)

 2. Low platelets (Anemia) which equals no energy. But I am still alive and kicking and finally tried this recipe which was DIVINE! I really wanted to try french toast with it, but it didn't last long enough for me to get around to it.

Anyway, here we go.

To make the sponge:
Combine 1 1/2 Tablespoons (1 1/2 packages) active dry yeast
1/2 a cup of warm water
1 cup warm milk (I like to heat mine in the microwave for 30 seconds)
1/4 a cup sugar
2 cups all purpose unbleached flour

Beat until smooth and then cover with plastic wrap and let sit about an hour.

To make the dough:
Stir down the sponge.
Add 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons of salt (note teaspoons, not tablespoons, most yeast breads call for at least a tablespoon so this is different)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
and then 1 cup of flour. Beat hard until creamy then add the remaining 2 1/2 to 3 cups of flour half a cup at a time. Note that since this is a sweet bread the dough should be soft and not as firm as a typical loaf of bread.
Knead 2-3 minutes, dusting with 1 tablespoon of flour at a time as needed if it starts to get sticky.

It will look something like this. Able to hold its shape, but still kinda "oozing" around!

Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let raise 1 1/2 hours.

Divide the dough into two equal portions and place on a large baking sheet (I used an airbake pan)  Let raise about 30 minutes. If desired you can brush on some egg beaten with water/milk for a nice shiny look. The dough did end up coming together, so I think next time I will either keep an eye on it and raise for less time, use two separate pans, or make three loaves instead of 2.

Bake at 375 F for 35-40 minutes.  Then transfer to cooling racks.

Stollen with Dried Cherries and Pineapple

Wow! This was nothing like I imagined. I thought Trader Joe's Stollen was delicious, but this is even better. It remind me of a really moist giant cinnamon roll. Even though it's traditionally a Christmas bread I think it would be a great breakfast anytime.



In a bowl:
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/2 cup dried currants
1/2 cup dried pineapple, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
Cover with boiling water and set aside to cool. I let it sit the full hour while the sponge was raising.


Sponge: 1 cup warm milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast, 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour.

Combine the milk and sugar, sprinkle with yeast and stir to dissolve. Let stand for 5 minutes then add the flour. Beat until smooth, cover with plastic and let raise 1 hour at room temp. until bubbly.


Dough: Drain the dried fruit and add to the sponge along with 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons cognac (I substituted with 2 tablespoons pureed peaches), grated zest of one lemon (or a couple teaspoons of juice), 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup of the flour. Beat until combined then add3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of butter a few pieces at a time while adding the remaining 2 1/2-3 cups of flour 1/2 a cup at a time until you have a soft dough that clears the side of the bowl.



Knead for 2-3 minutes dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking until dough is smooth and springy (I made this when the weather was really stormy and ended up adding an extra two cups of flour!). Then let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into two pieces. Roll int o a 12 by 8 inch oval about 1/2 an inch thick. Cover with two tablespoons unsalted melted butter and 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/2 a teaspoon cinnamon. Make a crease down the center of the oval , and without stretching it fold one of the long sides over the center crease to within 3/4 an inch of the opposite side. Press the top edge lightly to seal. Repeat with the second loaf.




Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about an hour. 20 minutes before baking turn the oven to 375 F. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until lightly browned. If the tops are browning to fast cover loosely with aluminum foil.


You can dust with powdered sugar if you want to.

American Chocolate Bread

I had never even heard of this so I was really excited to try something new. It's delicious. 5 stars.



Sponge:
In a mixing bowl sprinkle 2 tablespoons of yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar over 1 cup warm water. Add 1 1 /2 cups unbleached all purpose flour and beat until smooth. Let raise 1 hour.


Stir down the sponge and add 1 cup warm milk, 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter,
1 tablespoon salt, and 1 cup of flour. Beat until smooth, then add the remaining 3 to 3 1/2 cups of flour 1/2 a cup at a time. Knead 5-10 minutes. When you have a satiny feeling dough that springs back when pressed. Place in a greased deep container and cover with plastic wrap, raise for 1 hour.

I did this part differently then the recipe because I don't have the mini loaf pans.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Pat each one into a rectangle shape, about an inch thick. Place 1 oz (total 4 oz for my way, 8 oz. for mini loaf pans) of semisweet chocolate on the short end and roll like a jelly roll. Pinch the seam and ends and place in a 9x13 pan. Follow suit with the remaining 3 loaves.

This is what the recipe said: Divide dough into 8 equal portions and then follow the same directions for rolling. Place in mini loaf pans.


This is what mine looked like.


Raise for 15 minutes (in both 9x13 and mini loaf pans) and then brush melted butter on top and sift some powdered sugar over the tops. Preheat oven to 375 F and bake 9x13 for 30-35 minutes. 20-25 minutes for loaf pans.

Mmm, so good! I had strawberry jam on mine.