Abstract Utopia - I am a Desert.

Sweet Potato Bread

November 16, 2005
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Well, to come up with this recipe (yes, I did it all by myself, I have that skill, or I like to think I do). I thought about some of the properties of sweet potatoes. First, and most obviously, they are generally orange. This should add a nice colour to the rbead when it's done.

The sweet potato or Ipomoea batatas is native to Peru. Unlike a yam, the sweet potato is smooth, moist and sweet rather than starchy. So, in making this bread I couldn't do a regular potato bread as the starch is essential to it. Generally, rather than bread, people turn these potatoes into pies because of the texture and flavour they have.

To really bring out the flavour of the sweet potato, I decided to use pineapple as a sweetener/liquid base for my bread. I got the idea, quite frankly, from a recipe I loath and despise for candied sweet 'taters. However, the flavours should mesh well when added to flour and yeast. The yeast should bring out the pineapple's bite and the sweet potato's tang.

Because of this, I thought it would be best to modify a Hawaiian Sweet Bread recipe. Most people don't know it, but hawaiian sweet bread uses a potato bread as a base. Because the sweet potato has so much natural sugar, i will be cutting out part of the sugar usually used in the recipe (not all, I need it to activate the yeast still, though i could probably use the pineapple juice to do it alone). I will be adding a few things that should bring out the potato's flavour as well. A touch of ginger, maybe a scant dash of nutmeg and fresh vanilla.

As you can see, I put a lot of thought into my new recipes. My last adventure in bread was a pan suave that came out quite nicely. I used a few ground sunflower seeds in the flour and it really brought the whole flavour together.

Anyway, next I had to think about the shape that would best produce this loaf. I am opting for a plain, round loaf baked on a flat pan surrounded by a bed of salt. The salt will help to absorb excess moisture and give the bread a good crust. The potato has the chance of giving me a mushy bread, so I'll need a bit of the drying out done in the oven. I will also be using my baking stone to make sure my bread cooks evenly. All bakers should get a baking stone. It is essential to evenly baked bread. Trust me.

Anyway... onto the recipe!

2 packages dry, active yeast
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon honey
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (or pureed in a food processor)
4-6 cups all purpose flour

Heat pineapple juice to a luke warm temperature (about 110° F). Dissolve 1 Tablespoon of sugar into the liquid in a large bowl.
Stir in yeast. Let it stand 5-10 minutes until it gets foamy (no, no, no squirrelly wrath).
Add the rest of the sugar, mashed sweet potatoes. eggs, 1/4 cup butter, salt, vanilla, ginger, honey, a pinch of nutmeg, a dash of allspice and 2 cups of flour.
Stir until well blended.
Mix in flour slowly. Continue adding flour until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn dough out onto a surface and knead vigorously. You want the flour to form gluten with the potato.
Lightly grease a clean bowl and place the kneaded ball of dough into it. Cover with a plastic bag. (The plastic bag will keep in the moisture and the heat better than a cloth.)
Allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size. (About an hour. I set my bowl on top of the dryer and turn it on to make the dough rise faster.)
Turn dough out of the bowl and knead again on a floured surface.
Split the dough into equal halfs and shape into round loaves.
Place loaves on a flat pan and cover. allow the bread to rise until about double in size.
Take a sharp knife (I use a scaling knife) and cut slits across the top of the loaf. Take the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and melt.
Brush melted butter over the top of the loaf. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired.
Bake in a preheated over at 375° for 40-50 mintues or until the loaf sounds hollow when you thump it.
Remove bread from oven and place on a rack to cool.

Posted by Utopia at November 16, 2005 07:31 PM

Comments

please let us know how this turns out. i love to cook. i have a couple recipes on my blog if ur interested. i don't have alot of experience with bread but i'll try just about anything.

Posted by: shiki at November 16, 2005 08:40 PM

This recipe came out fan-fucking-tastic. I'll put up pictures when I get home, but let me describe it to you.

At first, the bread was stickier than bread dough usually is, so I have to knead in a good helping of flour. all this extra kneading really helped the glutens come together and produce a fluffy, light loaf that would be the perfect consistency for sandwiches.

The crust was perfect, it weas neither too hard, nor too soft and it will most definately hold in the moisture of the loaf.

Flavour wise, it has a touch of sweetness but definately retains the sweet potato flavour. Thinking about it, I think next time I will use half regular granulated sugar and half brown sugar to get a little extra molassas in there. This will make the loaf a little heavier, but not much.

The colour is a light, autumnish yellow colour. The addition of the brown sugar will make it a bit darker yellow.

Tonight, I bake a pumpkin yeast bread. Should be good.

Posted by: Utopia at November 17, 2005 08:17 AM

that sounds sooo good!

Posted by: shiki at November 17, 2005 02:48 PM

Sounds good.

Also sounds beyond my cooking abilities.

I think I'm going to pass this on to my MIL with puppydog eyes so she'll make ti for me. -grin-

Posted by: YummY! at November 17, 2005 05:35 PM

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