Thursday, October 16, 2008

Cuban bread

'Tis recorded that during the eighth century, monks were allowed a daily ration of 3.7 pounds of bread! Delicious as a thick slice of freshly-baked bread with a generous layer of butter may be, 3.7 pounds is A LOT of bread.

It seemed nigh impossible to me, until Candace introduced me to this recipe for Cuban bread. We just loved it and came somewhat close to consuming an ancient monk's ration. ;)

Besides being awfully yummy, it's really fast and fun to make.


4 cups whole wheat flour
2 T honey or sugar
2 T yeast
1 T salt
2 cups hot water
3-4 cups white flour
sesame seeds (opt)

Combine first five ingredients. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Rise for 15 minutes. Shape into two round loaves, brush with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Place a pan of hot water on the lowest rack of a cold oven. Place loaves on middle rack and turn the oven on to 375. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a light golden brown. Once done, lightly spray with cold water for a nice soft crust. Enjoy!

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Modified from the Tightwad Gazette

Edit: Oh dear! I typed up this post last week and set it to automatically publish today. Soon afterwords, Candace posted the recipe too and I kept forgetting to cancel this post. Anyway, it's so yummy I'll leave the recipe here, but you really should check out her post 'cause it's hilarious ... and she managed to take a picture of the baked bread before it was entirely consumed!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anna - your loaves look so perfect! I am going to give your adjusted recipe a try with the honey.

Unknown said...

I used to use a bread maker all the time, but I'm going to give your recipe a go next week.

It looks simple enough. And if it's as tasty as you make it out to be, why... it shouldn't take too long for two people to consume, right? :)

Anna @ Feminine Adventures said...

I made it last night to have with dinner Johanna, and within an hour or two we'd polished off more than half of it. So, at least in our home it doesn't last long... but, it is delicious toasted too. :) Hope you like it as much as we do!

You're so sweet Candace! This last time I added flax seed like you suggested and loved it! Thanks. :)

Unknown said...

I DID IT!!!

And it was wonderful, though not as perfect-looking as yours. ;)

Half of it has already mysteriously disappeared. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

Anna @ Feminine Adventures said...

So glad you liked it! :)

Gayle said...

I can't wait to try this. I love new bread recipes and this one doesn't look too difficult for me.

MamaFeelgood said...

This doesn't look scary at all