I went to school yesterday! Come to find out a recent acquaintance of mine is a very proficient baker and at one time taught bread baking. We have been trying to find a time to bake together for a while now and finally got our chance. We are doing a picnic and needed rolls for brisket and pulled pork sandwiches. He suggested a Portuguese Sweet Bread. I really liked the results. It is sturdy enough to handle the meat and any sauce, but it is not a dense bread.
The recipe calls for AP flour, which kind of surprised me. We did use bread flour to give it a little more structure. He made the biga the night before. The total yield for our efforts was 90 rolls at three ounces each and one loaf of bread, just over 1 lb. (there were an additional 3 rolls that somehow never quite made it to the packaging stage)!
My friend is part of a bread baking forum, similar to this one. If you google "fresh loaf forum" you should be able to find it. He has been a part of that forum for quite a while. It sounds like a fairly serious group, with a lot of good information.
Here is the recipe we used. We made two of the 7 lb. batches. He did say it was OK to share it.
Portuguese Sweet Bread with Biga
Biga - a type of pre-fermentation used in many popular Italian breads. It adds complexity to the bread's flavor and is often used in breads that need a light, open texture with holes.
Biga Recipe:
White AP Flour: 308g 470g
Water: 194g 296g
Salt: 8g 12g
Yeast (dry): ¼ tsp ¼ tsp
Final Dough
White AP Flour: 709g 1243g
Milk, warm: 257g 450g
Honey: 149g 261g
Eggs: 125g 220g
Butter (soft): 110g 193g
Sugar: 55g 96g
Yeast (dry): 8g 14g
Salt: 6g 11g
Biga 445g 778g
Total Yield: 4.1 lb. 7.2 lb.
1. Prepare biga, mix/knead until a smooth ball forms, mix/knead until a smooth ball forms. Cover and set aside for 12-16 hours.
2. Mix final dough ingredients together on speed 1, adding biga as dough comes together. Set timer for 3 minutes.
3. Mix on speed 2 for 3 more minutes, scraping dough occasionally (about once per minute) from side of bowl and the dough hook. Dough forms a loose ball on the hook, but is too sticky to clean the bowl.
4. From the mixing bowl, transfer to a lightly floured table and form into a loose ball before placing in a lightly oiled bowl to rise.
5. Cover and set aside for 2 hours, folding after 1 hour.
6. Shape.
7. Final fermentation (covered in plastic or in a humid environment. Loaves about 1.5 hrs. at 75 degrees, rolls may take up to 2 hours at 75 degrees.
8. Three-ounce rolls baked in a convection oven at 325 take 15 minutes (no steaming). Pan loaves at 1.5 pounds take 35 minutes (no steaming) to reach an IT of 200 degrees.
