After thorough investigation Spanish translation, I think I’ve finally unraveled the mysteries of this delicious Puerto Rican bread! As you may remember from the previous post (Bread Experiment Creates Inedible Brick), finding a recipe for this has been a bit tricky, complicated by the fact that I insist on using my poor bread machine. It took about six tries to get it right, but I think I’ve finally nailed a system that works very well and produces an excellent, fluffy sweet bread!
Now, you might be asking: what does this have to do with the Farmers’ Market? Everything. The secret ingredient: L A R D . That’s right; lard, from none other than our local meatsmith, the Rib King. You see, a good Pan Sobao’s soft texture and indomitable moistness is achieved by a nearly scientific application of 100% organic, farm raised pig lard (or “Lard Almighty” as they like to call it).
Pan Sobao For Bread Machines
Set your machine on its dough (non-baking) setting and add each ingredient in the following order:
1 3/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp sugar (I use organic granulated cane sugar)
1 Tbsp farm-raised lard
1 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
Set the machine and go go go! My machine has a second kneading cycle – at this point I add another 2 teaspoons of sugar to sweeten the dough. This is to avoid any potential over-leavening that might occur if I add it in the beginning. When the dough is ready, quickly divide it between four greased 8″ long bread pans. You can really use any size you want, just make sure they’re bread pans because otherwise you might end up with a dry bread – this would be a very sad Pan Sobao!
As the dough is settling and beginning to rise again, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and prepare the glaze in a small bowl:
1 Tbsp warm water
1 Tsp sugar
Allow the dough to rise for about 10-15 minutes, then brush on the glaze and put the pans in the oven immediately. Bake for 10-20 minutes, or until the top of the bread is just turning a golden brown color.
Enjoy your fabulous Pan Sobao alone, or with a nice café con leche! Que Rico!