Make Ghana Sugar Bread when you are free at home

I remember my days as a little girl running the afternoon errand of finding the freshest and loveliest bread to the family breakfast. Days that I run a bit late, I couldn't find any new bread because all would have been sold out. Ghanaians! We adore our new bread, so they go like hotcakes! I would move from one local bakery to another with the hope of getting my hands on one. A few of the bakers were really nice, they would save a loaf or two to get me personally, some would even go out of their way to bake me a tiny breadman. It was always something I looked ahead. Guess what? The tiny bread guy, always and almost never ever made it home with me. It was yummy in my tummy, on the trip back home!

Ingredients

650g Strong Bread Flour

150g Sugar

2 Tsp sugar

350ml Faucet Water

Extra Flour for Kneading

Directions

Put the yeast and 2 teaspoon of sugar in a bowl, then add 50ml lukewarm water, and whisk. Place it aside to froth. This may take up to 15 minutes.

Place the flour, salt, sugar, ascorbic acid, nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Make use of the paddle hook when using a mixer.

Add the melted butter and mix until well incorporated.

Now add the frothed yeast mix into the bread mixture and blend until well incorporated.

Add the 350ml of water, a bit at a time, and mix to a dough.

Knead the dough until it is extremely elastic. This is a sticky dough, therefore I find that the dough does not hold up correctly. While this occurs, move onto a lightly floured surface and knead with the heels of your palms.

Once stretchy /elastic, it is ready to ferment. To check the elasticity, either use a sharp knife to cut through the dough, the slit should appear smooth with pockets. Alternately, stretch the dough just like a cloth, it should be in a position to stretch like an elastic sheet without breaking.

Grease a glass jar with butter.

Roll the dough into a ball and place in the skillet. Rub the dough together with the butter and turn up the dough, so the buttered face is upward.

Cover the bowl with cling film and place in a warm spot for the dough to rise. You can create warm surroundings by heating the oven up to 100 oC. When the set temperature is reached, switch it off and then leave the oven light on.

Grease two loaf tins with butter.

Divide the dough into two equal components and form for the loaf tin. Shape the dough developing a seam in the bottom and smoothing the face. Place the shaped dough in the loaf tin, making sure the seam is in the base.

Cover with a warm damp cloth and put in a warm place for the second proofing. This takes about an hour. When the dough has doubled in size it is time to bake.

Heat the oven up to 200 oC.

Bake the dough for about 30 minutes or until it starts to brown and then place a bowl of boiling water on the bottom shelf. This will create steam in the oven to help create a lovely crust on the bread.

Turn d town the warmth to 180oC and bake until the bread is light brown. This will take the following 20 minutes.

Once the light brown color has been achieved, knock on the bread to assess if it is hollow. When it is, take it out of the oven, then cover the bread with a cloth for about 5minutes. If you'd like a tough crust do not cover it with a cloth. Just allow it to completely cool down before serving.

Once chilled function with your favorite beverage

If you loved this content, then we have more for you. Join us on aftradvillagekitchen to get more recipe items to celebrate your holidays and make every occasion special.