Monday, 22 February 2016

Sweet Potato Bread



 
 
Ingredients  
 
500g strong white flour, 
(OR  500g of flour, 50% strong white flour with 50% strong Canadian whole wheat flour, You may have to add a bit more water)
 
220 ml water,  2 tsp active dried yeast, 3 tsp sugar  
120g mashed sweet potato, mash this with 2tbs milk. 
1/2 tsp salt 
 

Warm some of the water to 40 degrees put it into a glass then add the yeast and sugar and leave about 10 minutes till bubbly.
 
The rolls above have pumpkin seeds added to the hopper of the bread maker.
 
I start the dough in the bread making machine then divide the dough into rolls, leave to prove at 40 C for about 30 minutes then bake at 220C for about 15-17 min

Other versions
 
With fillings
 
 

 

Pecans, olives and halloumi cheese for the filling

 

Some of the dough was spread out flat and the filling put down the middle,



then rolled up and baked.




The roll on the right was shaped like the Madeiran sweet potato bread in the previous post.

The rolls are also good with added seeds. Before baking I dip the top of each roll in milk then in sesame seeds or nigella seeds.



Saturday, 20 February 2016

Madeiran Breads



The breads shown above are called Rosquilhas. They contain little chunks of sweet potato that has a taste like chestnut.
In January I visited a little artisan bakery near Santo da Serra in Madeira. The visit was arranged by the Porto Bay hotel Group and also included a visit to an artisan cheese maker (that's for another post) and a 3 course lunch at their charming little hotel Porto Bay Serra Golf. We climbed up and up on narrow roads and passed through some beautiful scenery, driven expertly by Bruno.


This is the baker who get up at crack of dawn to bake these delicious breads for us. 
Outside we could already smell the wood smoke and as we entered the house there was a welcoming smell of baking bread.
Sweet potatoes are grown in Madeira and are added to bread. The flesh is white unlike the orange colour of the ones we get in the UK.
 These artisan breads are cooked in wood fired ovens. They are available to buy from the market in Santo da Serra at the weekend.
They were all delicious. 



Marilia came with us from Porto Bay Serra Golf and told us about the breads.






                         with Portuguese chorizo



Below I have made bread with sweet potato before, and since this visit have made some more in the shape of the Rosquilhas shown above. I use about 1 part mashed sweet potato to 4 of flour.


I was given a sweet potato cutting from the garden at the Porto Mare hotel. The flesh of this type is firmer than the orange type we have in the UK
It survived the journey home and is growing on my window sill.



Update Sept 2016 I have since tried this recipe with a much higher % sweet potato ie just over 1/3 to 2/3 flour and less water and got a good rise.
See below