Portuguese sweet bread

Pão doce — Portuguese sweet bread — is the golden, pillowy loaf that means holidays in the Azores and, through Azorean emigration, in half the bakeries of New England (where “Portuguese sweet bread” needs no translation). Easter and Christmas are its high season; every other day is fair game.

The dough is rich territory: milk, butter, four eggs, lemon zest and vanilla, kneaded soft and baked into round loaves — the shape traditionally standing for family and togetherness.

Toasted with butter it is breakfast royalty, and it makes French toast that borders on unfair. This is the traditional method, rises and all.

Pão Doce Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus about 2 hours rising) · Cook time: 30 minutes · Total: about 3 hours · Servings: 8 · Calories: ~188 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk (about 110°F)
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 4½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 4 large eggs, plus 1 beaten egg for the wash
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast and let it froth, about 10 minutes.
2. Whisk in the melted butter, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla.
3. Add the flour and salt gradually, mixing into a soft dough.
4. Knead on a floured surface 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic — slightly sticky is correct.
5. Rise in a greased, covered bowl 1 to 1½ hours, until doubled.
6. Punch down, shape into two round loaves on a parchment-lined sheet, and rise 30 minutes more.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the loaves with the beaten egg.
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding.
9. Cool completely on a rack before slicing — hot sweet bread collapses under the knife.

Recipe Notes

• Milk at 110°F: warm enough to wake the yeast, cool enough not to hurt it.
• Orange zest alongside the lemon is a lovely island variation.
• Day-old pão doce makes the best French toast (rabanadas) you will encounter — plan a loaf for sacrifice.