Hardo bread

Ingredients

Dough

• 700 gstrong white flour
• 100 gsugar
• 10 ginstant yeast
• 2 tspsalt
• 60 gbutter, softened
• 300 mlwarm water

To glaze

• 1 tbsphoney or sugar water

Directions

1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt, then rub in the butter.
2. Add the water gradually and bring it together into a stiff dough.
3. Keep it stiff and dry. The name is literal: hard dough bread carries far less water than an ordinary loaf, and that is what gives the dense close crumb it is bought for.
4. Knead for a full 15 minutes, which is longer and harder work than a normal loaf.
5. It takes real kneading. A stiff dough develops slowly, and an under-kneaded hardo is crumbly instead of springy.
6. Prove for 1 hour 30 minutes, which is slower than a wetter dough would need.
7. Knock it back, roll it into a rectangle, then roll it up tightly into a log.
8. Roll it tight, pressing as you go, leaving no air pockets. Holes in the crumb are the one thing a hardo should not have.
9. Put it seam side down in a greased loaf tin and press it into the corners.
10. Prove for another hour, until it has risen just above the rim.
11. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 35 to 40 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding underneath.
12. Brush the top with honey or sugar water as it comes out, which gives the glossy sweet crust.
13. Cool it completely before slicing.
14. Slice it thick, at least 1.5 cm. Thin slices miss the point of a bread this dense.
15. It traces to the Chinese Jamaican bakeries of the twentieth century and is now the island’s standard sliced loaf.

Technique

• It is distinctly sweet for a sandwich bread, which is why it works with saltfish and with cheese alike.
• Denser and heavier than any European white loaf, and deliberately so.
• It keeps well, four or five days, which is another reason it became the standard loaf.

Substitutions

• Shortening in place of butter, which is the bakery standard.
• A quarter wholemeal flour for a coarser loaf.

Variations

• Baked as a round rather than in a tin.
• Darkened with molasses in the dough.
• The Trinidadian and Guyanese hard dough loaves, which are close relatives.

History

Jamaica’s hard dough bread traces to Chinese Jamaican bakeries of the 20th century and is now the island’s standard sliced loaf.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hardo bread?

Hardo bread is a bread & pastry from Jamaica: dense sweet white loaf, sliced thick for breakfast and sandwiches. Jamaica’s hard dough bread traces to Chinese Jamaican bakeries of the 20th century and is now the island’s standard sliced loaf.

How long does Hardo bread take to make?

Hardo bread takes 30 min plus 2 hr 30 min rising of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 large loaf. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Hardo bread?

Yes, within limits. Shortening in place of butter, which is the bakery standard. A quarter wholemeal flour for a coarser loaf.

What is the most important thing to get right in Hardo bread?

It takes real kneading. A stiff dough develops slowly, and an under-kneaded hardo is crumbly instead of springy.