Best Portuguese Sweet-Bread Recipe

Best Portuguese Sweet-Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. milk, scalded, then cooled
• 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter
• grated rind of 1 lemon.
• 2 pkgs. granulated dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 1/2 lbs. (10 c.) flour
• 2 1/4 c. sugar
• 3 lg. or 5 med. eggs

Method

1. Add butter to milk, allow it to cool, then add lemon rind
2. In large bowl, mix yeast with warm water
3. Add flour and sugar and cooled milk mixture
4. Add eggs; mix well
5. Knead until mixture leaves sides of bowl
6. Form a ball and place on floured surface; knead for 10 minutes
7. Let rest 5 minutes, knead again 10 minutes, let rest 5 minutes, knead 10 minutes
8. (Sometimes I only knead it one time
9. Place dough in lightly greased bowl, cover and let stand overnight
10. It will have doubled in bulk by morning
11. Punch down
12. Shape into four or five round bread loaves (about the diameter of a large pita bread) or into Christmas tree shapes (3 trees)
13. To shape trees, grease cookie sheet, shape 12 small balls and arrange on cookie sheet in tree shapes (1 ball for top, then a row of 2, then 3, then 4, then 2 for trunk)
14. Cover with towel and let rise 1 hour in warm place
15. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until done
16. When cool, bread may be decorated with frosting of confectioners’ sugar mixed with milk to a thin spreading consistency
17. Sprinkle here and there with red and green sugar crystals

Full List of Portuguese Recipes
Full List of Bread Recipes