Portuguese Sweet Bread

I love the Easter holiday. When I was young, it meant a week in Monterey with my grandparents. My memories of Monterey are bright blue skies, the gorgeous bay visible from my Nana's backdoor, listening to the sound of sea lions barking, and calla lilies and poppies in her front garden. Each year, Nonnie baked these great Easter cookies. She mixed her own sugar cookie dough (this dough was unique, yellowish and slightly different from any sugar dough I've known since)and cut out heart-shaped cookies. Then, she'd hard boil and dye Easter eggs, which would be placed in the center of the cookie. Across the egg, she'd use her ravioli wheel and cut out strips of cookie dough, then create a cross across the egg, to hold it in place on the heart.

This cookie had a lot of symbolism for the Easter holiday.... the heart represented our love of Jesus, the cross - well, of course, the cross He died on, and the egg represented new life and Jesus rising from the dead.

No one in the family has ever baked these cookies. The tradition died with her. I don't think anyone in the family has the cookie dough recipe. Rumor has it that my cousin's sister-in-law sat, watched, and wrote down the recipe, and is holding the recipe hostage. She won't give it to my cousin!!

So, that was my Italian family memory of Easter. Sometime around the time I was 12 years old, our family switched, and we started having Easter in Lemoore. Equally wonderful memories, filled with spring skies, green grass, my mother's flower garden of irises, daffodils, and roses, and Easter brunch in our screen house.

We had a screened in "house" in our front yard. Basically, it was a huge rectangular slab of concrete, with screened in walls, a porch swing inside, electrical outlets, and picnic tables. My description might sound ghetto, but it was really fabulous. This is where we enjoyed our Easter brunch, with tables inside and outside, kids playing while adults could watch, and like any family gathering, delicious food.

This is where the tradition of Portuguese Sweet Bread comes in. The only parts of the meal I remember are scrambled eggs, fruit, linguica (Portuguese sausage) and sweet bread. Ahhhh, the sweet bread! My mom baked it the day before, and it was torturous to not be allowed to snack, nibble, and sneak the bread. Especially the dough as it was rising. Okay, I DID sneak it. Mom always freaked out because "There are raw eggs in that!!! You'll get sick!!!" The dough was sooo yummy, it was well worth taking my chances. And, by the way, I've never known of anyone to get sick from eating dough with eggs in it.

My nieces continue to bake this bread, and my son LOVES it. So, this year, I decided to dive in and try my hand at it. I was going to bake my own Portuguese Sweet Bread.

Truth... I have kitchen issues. I don't cook or bake very much, so I've not developed the "feel" that great cooks have. I have to follow the recipe, ask a lot of questions, and leave nothing to "Oh, you'll be able to tell." No, I won't be able to tell, so you must tell me!

So, I asked my nieces for their recipe. This recipe actually came from their grandmother (their dad's side), though I think my mother used it too.



Anne sent the recipe to me and wished me luck. Paula sent words of confidence and encouragement. Anne kept sending me extra tips... 6 eggs, placed in warm water, bring to room temperature. Use the wisk for beating, the paddle for mixing. The dough will be very pliable and stretchy.

I was getting nervous.

But, once I started, it felt really good to be baking real bread! Traditional. My kitchen was partaking in Easter and in family memories.



Then I came to the kneading. Confusion set it. How long do I knead the dough? My hit and miss baking background brought to mind the idea of OVER kneading and creating a tough dough. Yikes!! How long should I knead this dough?? Do I want to add air to it? Will that dry it out? If I knead it too long, will I kill the activated yeast? I decided to knead it for a short time. I later learned that this was a mistake. After consulting with my sweet bread experts, Anne and Paula, I learned that a minimum of 6 minutes kneading time is necessary--- not 90 seconds.

I kneaded the dough, and made my rolls. I watched them with a worrisome eye. They appeared to rise a little more, so I guess I didn't man-handle the yeast into submission.


It was time for baking. Next mistake. This was just dumb. I have an "easy convection" setting on my oven, but did I use it?? No. I set the oven on convection, but then I set the regular recipe temp and time. Duh!!! Convection baking needs to be set at a lower baking temperature, and it takes less baking time. I didn't make those adjustments.

I didn't burn the rolls, but they were more biscuity than rolly. Too crispy, crusty on the outside, though pretty good on the inside! When the rolls came out of the oven, I brushed all of them with more butter (the recipe calls for 2 cups of butter... see why these are SOOOO good??). After they cooled, I put them into zip lock storage bags. This was a good move. All that buttery, greasy moisture got locked in with the rolls, and softened them.


Not perfect, but still pretty tasty. My first attempt didn't destroy me. I'll do this again.