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Sugar Bread

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Proofing time2 hours
Total Time45 minutes
Author: The Orange Baker

Ingredients

For the syrup

  • 50 grams Cane sugar
  • 50 milliliters Water

For the bread

  • 500 grams All-purpose flour
  • 325 milliliter Water (Filtered)
  • 80 grams Cane sugar
  • 10 grams Salt
  • 10 grams Yeast
  • Vegetable oil to grease the bowl, and the dough

Instructions

Utensils

  • Large bowl (3 liters)
  • Measuring cup, scale, small bowls
  • Dough scraper
  • Baker’s brush
  • Clean film, kitchen towel or lid cover for bowl
  • Baking sheet, parchment paper
  • Small pan for syrup

The night before: the syrup

  • Prepare the syrup by bringing the water and sugar to a boil, and leave it to cool. Keep it at room temperature until you use it. 

Preparation

  • Put 400 grams of the flour in the bowl and add the water. Mix until you have a coarse dough and all the flour has been incorporated by the water. Cover with a lid or kitchen towel and set aside for at least 15-20 minutes. This is the so-called autolyse period.
  • Add the remaining flour, the yeast on one side of the bowl, and the salt and sugar on the other side. Mix in the bowl until all the dry ingredients have been absorbed by the dough. Flick the bowl over. 

Kneading

  • Knead for roughly 7-10 minutes. The dough is ready when you try to make a window of the dough: a thin film of dough, about a millimeter thick, that does not immediately tear up. If it rips easily, just knead a bit more.

First proofing

  • Clean the bowl you have been mixing the dough in, and grease it with a bit of oil. Form a ball of the dough, place in the bowl and cover with the lid, clean film or a kitchen towel. Place the bowl on a warm spot. Do not place it on direct heat, and do not place it in the full, hot sun as this will dry out the dough and leave a harder skin that you will see in the dough. Leave for the first proofing for one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. Line your baking sheet with the parchment paper.

Greasing the dough and second proofing

  • This is an important step and crucial for this loaf: grease your counter top with oil.
  • Use the scraper to clear the dough from the bowl and turn on the oiled kitchen table top. Be careful not to just flick over the bowl, as you will stretch the gluten in the dough too much, and the effect is gone, and you also want to maintain the large bubbles in this particular bread. Let gravity do the work for you.
  • Fold the dough a in a round shape by rotating the dough carefully and in small increments over the counter top, while you carefully shape and smoothen the loaf. The oil on the counter top will grease up the bottom of the loaf, and that will prevent the edges from closing. We need this open crust for the syrup.
  • Cover the loaf with a clean kitchen towel and leave to proof for about 45-60 minutes. It will be ready when you prod it with your finger and the indent slowly pops back. When it immediately pops when you prod, it’s not done yet. Towards the end of the proofing period, preheat the oven to 200oC/400oF.

Bake

  • Pick up the dough and place it with the smooth side down, and the bottom up on the lined baking sheet: the oiled edges will create an open crust. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. The loaf will be ready when it is golden-brown.
  • Take it out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack right away. Use a baker’s brush to brush the syrup over the bread, and pour the syrup in the cracks in the bread.