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For Alison: Pan Dulce

"Sonia Martinez" <akakainn@gte.net>
Sat, 31 Mar 2001 08:00:15 -0800
v101.n019.11
Hola Alison!

We Cubans also make Pan Dulce, except it is usually called Pan Suave.  You 
can find it in most Cuban Bakeries and it's the bread roll used for the 
Cuban Medianoche Sandwich.  There are some "Pan Duce" recipes for 
Portuguese Sweet Bread also.

I live in Hawaii, where there is a large concentration of Portuguese who 
came to the Islands about a 100 years ago to work in the sugar cane 
fields.  Sometimes their Pan Duce (pronounced deuce) is called Hawaiian 
Bread here.

This recipe appears in the Steven Raichlen "Miami Spice" cookbook:

PAN SUAVE (Cuban Sweet Rolls)
Makes 12/ 5-inch rolls

2 envelopes active dry yeast (2-1/4 tsp each)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp salt, plus a little bit more for egg glaze
4 to 5 cups bread or all-purpose flour, or more, as needed
2 Tbsp sesame seeds (**)
1 Tbsp melted butter

Dissolve yeast and 1 tabespoon sugar in 3 tablespoons warm water in a large 
mixing bowl.  When mixture foams (about 5-10 minutes), stir in remaining 
water, sugar, the oil and all but 1 tablespoon of the beaten eggs.

Beat the remaining egg with a pinch of salt to make egg glaze and store in 
refrigerator until needed.

Stir the 2 tablespoons salt and the flour, 1 cup at a time, into the liquid 
ingredients, to obtain a dough that is stiff enough to pull away from the 
sides of the bowl, but soft enough to knead.  The dough can also be keanded 
in a mixer fitted with a dough hook or in a food processor with the dough 
blade.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 6 to 8 
minutes, adding flour as necessary to obtain a soft dough that is pliable 
but not sticky.  It will be a little moister than regular bread dough.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise in warm, 
draft-free spot until doubled in bulk- 1 to 1-1/2 hours.  Punch down.

Form the rolls, dividing into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each on the work 
surface with the palm of your hand to form a tube 5 inches long with 
tapered ends.  Transfer the rolls to a lightly greased baking sheet leaving 
3 inches between each.

Cover with a dampened cotton dish towel and let rise in warm, draft-free 
spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.  You can let them rise in the 
refrigerator if you want, but it will take 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F

Brush the rolls with the reserved egg glaze and sprinkle with sesame 
seeds.  Bake until golden brown and hollow sounding when lightly tapped, 20 
to 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.  Brush tops with 
melted butter.  Serve warm or cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

(**) I don't remember ever using sesame seeds on ours.

Hope this helps.
I have a cooking club on Yahoo! you can visit and possible join:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/akakafallsinncookingschool
or my home page, which is updated monthly:
http://www.geocities.com/akakainn_soniam37

Buena suerte!
Sonia Martinez
A Cuban in Hawaii
akakainn@gte.net