Ingredients
Dough
- 800 gstrong white flour
- 350 mlwarm milk
- 150 gsugar
- 100 gbutter, softened
- 2eggs
- 12 ginstant yeast
- 1 tspsalt
- 1 tspnutmeg, optional
To finish
- 1egg, beaten
- 2 tbspmelted butter
- a little sugar for the top, optional
To serve
- with tea
- with groundnut paste
- with Milo
- or with fried eggs
Directions
- Warm the milk to blood heat and mix it with the yeast and a spoonful of the sugar. Let it stand 10 minutes until it foams, which confirms the yeast is working. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg, then add the milk mixture, eggs and butter.
- Bring it to a soft dough and knead for 10 to 12 minutes. This is a sweet enriched dough and it takes longer to come together than a plain one, because the sugar and fat slow the gluten forming.
- Keep going until it is smooth, elastic and slightly tacky. Resist adding lots of extra flour, since a firm dough gives a dense loaf. Prove it, covered, for about 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled. A sweet dough rises more slowly than a lean one, so give it the time it needs rather than the time on the clock.
- Divide each portion into 5 or 6 equal balls. Roll each ball tight, cupping your palm over it and moving it in circles on the work surface, which builds surface tension.
- Set the balls in a greased loaf tin, touching each other in a row. Set them touching, which is exactly the point: they rise into each other and the finished loaf pulls apart into separate pieces.
- Prove a second time for about an hour until they have risen well above the rim of the tin. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 30 to 35 minutes. Cover it loosely with foil if it browns too fast, since the sugar makes it colour quickly. It is done when it is deep golden and sounds hollow tapped underneath.
- Butter it while it is hot, which softens the crust and gives the glossy finish Ghanaian bakeries produce. Turn it out and cool it on a rack. Cool it at least partly before pulling it apart, or the crumb drags. Serve it torn into tufts, with tea, Milo or coffee. It keeps two or three days wrapped and is very good toasted afterwards.
Technique
- Ghanaian bakeries sell sugar bread, tea bread and butter bread as three distinct products.
- It is often sold from head pans and roadside kiosks in the early morning.
- Groundnut paste with sugar bread is a standard Ghanaian breakfast.
Substitutions
- Water and milk powder in place of fresh milk.
- Margarine in place of butter, which is what many bakeries use.
Variations
- Tea bread, plainer and less sweet.
- Butter bread, richer.
- With nutmeg or cinnamon through the dough.
History
Wheat baking entered Ghana through colonial-era coastal bakeries; the sweet enriched loaf became a standard of Accra‘s tea-kiosk breakfast.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sugar bread?
Sugar bread is a bread & pastry from Ghana: soft sweet loaf pulled apart in tufts, eaten with tea or groundnut paste. Wheat baking entered Ghana through colonial-era coastal bakeries; the sweet enriched loaf became a standard of Accra’s tea-kiosk breakfast.
How long does Sugar bread take to make?
Sugar bread takes 30 min plus 2 hr 30 min rising of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 2 loaves. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Sugar bread?
Yes, within limits. Water and milk powder in place of fresh milk. Margarine in place of butter, which is what many bakeries use.
What is the most important thing to get right in Sugar bread?
Keep going until it is smooth, elastic and slightly tacky. Resist adding lots of extra flour, since a firm dough gives a dense loaf. Prove it, covered, for about 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled. A sweet dough rises more slowly than a lean one, so give it the time it needs rather than the time on the clock.
