Photo Credit: Wildyeastblog.com

This week we’ll be bringing you recipes for Hawaiian pastries, starting today with Hawaiian Bread.  This regional delight is actually Portuguese sweet bread, or Pao Doce, that was originally a Christmas and Easter tradition.  Around Easter the bread is made into round rolls with hard-boiled eggs baked into their center, but the rest of the year it appears as a round-shaped loaf and is served with butter, as french toast, or as dessert.  The bread is prevalent in Hawaiian, Portuguese and New England cuisine.

The recipe below has been adapted from GoHawaii.com.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Servings: 4 Round Loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons dry yeast (2 packages)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 7 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup warm buttermilk
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1-1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

Combine the yeast, water and a pinch of sugar.  Set aside to rise.

Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Beat 4 eggs in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the warm milk and butter in a large bowl, then beat in sugar.  Add the yeast, then the beaten eggs and stir until well blended.  Add six cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing as each cup is added.  When the dough is well mixed it should be soft and wet.

Place dough on a flat surface and knead with consistent pressure for 10 minutes, adding the remaining cup of flour as the dough and surface become sticky.  Then place dough into a greased bowl and cover it with a towel to let it rise.  Once it has doubled in size (approximately 3 hours), preheat oven to 350 degrees, push dough down and begin to knead gently.

Divide dough into four equal parts and form each into a ball.  Place each ball on a greased baking sheet and allow them to rise until double in size.
Beat the remaining egg and gently baste the loaves.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes until golden brown.