HAWAIIAN SWEET BREAD Makes 2 loaves. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from several recipes. This mildly sweet bread has a tender texture and a delicate flavor. The bread is also easy to make. I use my stand mixer for added ease. My mother would occasionally buy this bread when I was a child. When someone requested it, I saw an opportunity to revisit my childhood. This is a very satisfying bread to make. It is delicious toasted. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (1 packet is okay) 1 cup (237ml) warm water (110 F/43 C). 3 large eggs, preferably room temperature 1 cup (240ml) pineapple juice, room temperature ¾ cup (150g) white sugar ½ teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup (4 ounces/1 stick/113g) butter, melted ½ teaspoon salt 7 cups (35 ounces/ 1kg) all-purpose flour (see Note at end) Directions: In a larger bowl (the bowl of your stand mixer, if you have one) combine the water and the yeast with a generous pinch of the sugar. Mix well and let stand 5 to 10 minutes. If the yeast is alive you should see foaming on the surface after a while. Add the eggs, pineapple juice, remaining sugar, ginger, and vanilla to the bowl. Mix well. Add the melted butter and salt and mix again. Attach the bowl to your stand mixer (or you can do the mixing with a spoon) fitted with the mixing blade. Set the mixer at low speed. Add the flour, a generous scoop at a time, and incorporate well before adding the next scoop. When the batter begins to stiffen, switch to the dough hook and continue adding flour until a moist and slightly sticky dough develops. (You might not use all the flour. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl but still stick to the bottom of the bowl). Knead the dough about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a buttered or oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. This could take 2 hours. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and deflate it with your hands. Divide the dough into two equal portions and shape into two round loaves. Arrange on greased (or lined with parchment paper) baking sheets. Cover again with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, up to an hour. Heat oven to 350 F (177 C). Cut shallow grooves into the top of each loaf to allow for expansion. Bake 40 to 50 minutes until golden. Each loaf should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. If you have a digital thermometer, the loaves will be done when the internal temperature reaches about 200 F (93 C). Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool thoroughly before slicing. The Step By Step guide begins on the following page. 1 20130805
1 STEP-BY-STEP 2 These are the ingredients for this recipe. I chose to let everything rest on the counter for a while to come up to room temperature. Adding cold ingredients to the mixture can retard the development of the yeast; nonetheless, the dough will rise anyway, if a little more slowly. So temperature is not critical. 2 Combine the water and the yeast in a mixer bowl with a good pinch of the sugar. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. If the yeast is alive and active, it should foam on the surface.
3 3 Add the eggs, pineapple juice, remaining sugar, ginger, and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix well. Then add the melted butter and salt and mix again. Note: If you are using very salty butter, you can omit the salt from this recipe. My butter is only mildly salty; so it is not a problem. One time I bought some Irish butter to experiment and it is high in salt. 4 Attach the bowl to the mixer and attach the mixer blade. Start adding the flour, a scoop or two at a time, and mix thoroughly before adding more. Continue until the mixture starts to thicken into a dough.
5 4 When the mixture thickens into a dough, switch to the dough hook and continue working in the flour. You might not use all the flour (or a little more might be needed). You want a soft, moist dough that is slightly sticky. I look to see the dough separating from the sides of the bowl as it is kneaded, but it still sticks to the bottom of the bowl. Stop adding flour, but continue to knead in the machine about 5 minutes. 6 Transfer the dough to a buttered or oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. This could take 2 hours.
7 5 Here is my dough after two hours. It rose above the rim of the bowl. 8 Punch the dough down (deflate it with your hands) and divide into two equal portions. Shape into round loaves and arrange on greased or lined baking sheets. I wasn t sure whether or not to cut grooves into the top. None of the recipes I looked at made this recommendation, but I know the grooves can assist in expansion. I experimented by cutting only one loaf. It resulted in a larger loaf with a lighter texture. I recommend cutting groves in the top of each loaf. You might also note that the baking sheet to the left is smaller. That is a quarter sheet (the other is a half sheet). The size is related to professional baking sheets, which are full sheets. I used the smaller baking sheet so that I could put both sheets on the same rack in the oven. If you have two half sheets, you can bake them on two racks, one above the other, and carefully switch them about halfway through the baking time.
9 6 Here are my two loaves of Hawaiian Sweet Bread. They baked 45 minutes. The one on the right is obviously larger, thanks to the grooves I cut into the top. Allow the loaves to cool thoroughly before slicing. Conclusion This was a surprisingly easy bread to make. The outcome was a mildly sweet bread that was delicious when toasted and lightly buttered. I enjoyed it with coffee for breakfast. Note Baking requires accuracy and I always maintain that it is better to weigh flour rather than measure it with a cup. Depending on whether the flour is scooped with the cup, spooned into the cup, or sifted into the cup, the amount can vary from less than 4½ ounces (128g) to 5½ ounces (156g). That variance can ruin a baking project. When a recipe does not specify a weight for the flour, I assume an average of 5 ounces (142g) per cup. Assumption, as they say, is the mother of all disasters. One recipe for this bread called for 6 cups of flour. That made a batter, not a dough. I had to increase the flour by an additional cup to get the dough I needed. Sadly, some recipes are not tested before they are published.