Fanti bread

Ingredients

Dough

• 800 gplain flour
• 350 mlwarm water
• or 350 ml warm milk
• 12 gdried yeast
• 200 gsugar
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• 120 gbutter or margarine, softened
• 2eggs

Sometimes added

• 1 teaspoongrated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• 2 tablespoonsmilk powder

To finish

• 1egg, beaten, for brushing
• a little melted butter

To serve

• roasted peanuts
• tea or coffee
• butter

Directions

1. Warm the water to just above body temperature. It should feel barely warm to a clean finger. Stir the yeast and a spoon of sugar into it. Let it stand for five minutes until it foams.
2. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the nutmeg if you are using it. Whisk them together thoroughly. Combining it needs a large bowl. Add the yeasted water to the flour. Beat the eggs and add them in. Bring it together into a rough dough.
3. Turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead it for a good eight minutes. Knead each piece in before adding the next. Keep working and it comes back together. Give it another eight minutes after the butter.
4. Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it over with a clean cloth. Leave it somewhere warm for ninety minutes. It should roughly double in size. Butter and line a large loaf tin. Shape it into a loaf and set it in the tin. Press it down into the corners.
5. Cover it and let it rise again. Give it about an hour for the second proof. Brush the top with the beaten egg. Heat the oven to 175C before baking. Bake it for about fifty minutes.
6. Cover it with foil after thirty minutes. Judging when it is done takes a test. Brush the hot top with melted butter. That gives it a soft golden shine. Leave it in the tin for fifteen minutes.
7. Let it cool entirely before slicing. Hot enriched bread tears rather than slices. Cut it with a long serrated knife. Serve roasted peanuts alongside. Take bread and peanuts together. Butter is spread on it by some. It keeps five days if wrapped well.

Technique

• The bread is named for Fante fishing communities from coastal Ghana who settled along the Liberian coast, following the fishing rather than migrating once, and it is called Fanti bread wherever they settled.
• It is heavily enriched with sugar and fat, closer to a brioche than a plain loaf, which is also why it keeps far better than ordinary bread.
• The standard way of eating it is with salted roasted peanuts in the same mouthful, so anyone with a peanut allergy must be told plainly.

Substitutions

• Milk in place of water gives a richer and softer loaf.
• Margarine works in place of butter and is what many bakers use.

Variations

• Some bakers add nutmeg or vanilla to the dough.
• A version baked in a round tin is also sold.
• Similar sweet breads are baked along the whole West African coast.

History

Named for the Fanti fishing communities from Ghana who settled along the Liberian coast and baked it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fanti bread?

Fanti bread is a bread & pastry from Liberia: dense sweet loaf sold in slices, eaten with roasted peanuts. Named for the Fanti fishing communities from Ghana who settled along the Liberian coast and baked it.

How long does Fanti bread take to make?

Fanti bread takes 30 minutes plus rising of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one large loaf. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Fanti bread?

Yes, within limits. Milk in place of water gives a richer and softer loaf. Margarine works in place of butter and is what many bakers use.

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

Let it cool entirely before slicing. Hot enriched bread tears rather than slices. Cut it with a long serrated knife. Serve roasted peanuts alongside. Take bread and peanuts together. Butter is spread on it by some. It keeps five days if wrapped well.