If this is your first time to our blog, we are more than just recipes! Each of the recipes on our blog is a recreation from a cookbook published in 1951 in Santa Maria, California. We are not only recreating these recipes, but we are also revisiting the lives of each contributor and sharing their bios with you. You can read more about this project on our About page.
Anna Trigueiro's recipe for Portuguese Egg Bread was the very first recipe that I ever made from Companys a-Comin', and I think it's more than fitting that I start off this project with her. One of the things that first drew me to this recipe was the cultural significance that it represents. Anna immigrated to the Santa Maria area in 1907 when she was in her early 20s, no doubt bringing many significant traditions with her from Portugal to her new life in America. Presumably, that would have included this recipe. Is it a family recipe? I don't know, but it certainly points to a broader rich tradition of immigrants and old world culture that helped to shape the early Santa Maria Valley as well as California as a whole.
Growing up in Santa Maria, one of my earliest childhood friends came from a Portuguese family. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was immensely privileged to be included in many of their family events, including the Pentecostal Festa hosted through the local DES club. This celebration is part of a deep history and tradition that was brought over from Portugal by immigrants in the 19th century, which in turn shaped the culture of their new communities. Participating in this event has become something of a core childhood memory for me: tiaras and satin dresses, the long procession to mass, and the celebration afterward with warm community and amazing food. The taste of Portuguese sweet bread immediately brings me back to being nine years old and darting through the crowded DES hall with my friend.
This was a challenging recipe with long rise times, outdated ingredients, and vague instructions. But despite the hard work, the pay off is worth it. The bake is golden brown with a super soft and airy crumb. The loaf turns out a gorgeous buttery yellow from the egg yolks, and the flavor has the lightest hint of sweet. This bread is perfect toasted with a little bit of butter or jam, but it's also a treat just plain and cut right from the loaf. Traditionally a loaf made for celebrations such as Christmas or Easter, this is perfect for Spring with a light flavor and texture that really reflects the season.
While still a time investment, the recipe I've written out below is a little more detailed than the original but holds true to the ingredients and flavors of Anna's version. Even though I've made this bread a few times now, I still marvel at how amazing it is that we can create and experience the product of this recipe much as Anna would have over 100 years ago. This is such a perfect example of what my hopes are for this project. By telling these stories and making these recipes, we are able to connect through time with these women and share an experience that makes their personal journeys more tangible. I am so thrilled to be bringing a little bit of life back to these stories, and I hope you'll join me as we continue on in this experience.
Portuguese Egg Bread
Servings: 4 loaves
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Rise Time: 9 hours
Cook Time: 20-30 minutes
Total Time: 9 hours, 50 minutes
Ingredients:
3 1/3 teaspon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
7 eggs
1 cup cinnamon tea
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cube butter, softened
7 to 9 cups all-purpose flour
To make the cinnamon tea:
Boil cinnamon sticks in water until fragrant and the water has taken on the color of the cinnamon sticks. I've used one cinnamon stick per one cup of water with good results. Set cinnamon tea aside to cool.
Instructions:
Mix yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 cup warm water together in small bowl. Set aside in a warm place to rise for around 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat eggs well and add in about half of the cinnamon tea.
Switch out the whisk for the dough hook attachment. On a medium-low speed, add in 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoon salt, and butter to combine. Add in 7 cups of flour one cup at a time.
Add in yeast mixture and combine.
Slowly add in the rest of the cinnamon tea and knead until smooth. You may need to add in more flour to get to the correct consistency. See notes below.*
Transfer dough to a large bowl. Cover and place in a warm place to rise for about 6 hours. (This amount of dough will end up rising quite a bit. Learn from my mistakes and make sure you have a big enough bowl so it doesn't end up overflowing.)
After the dough has risen, knead again a few times and allow to rise again halfway, about an hour.
After the second rise, divide the dough and make into loaves. See notes below.**. Allow loaves to rise again for another 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
Notes:
There are several differences from Anna's original recipe here:
The original recipe called for 14 cups of flour and 14 eggs, which would have made about 8 loaves. I've halved the recipe here to make about 4 loaves.
Anna's recipe called for one yeast cake, which is not a type of yeast that I've ever worked with. Thanks to Google, I was able to convert that into 3 1/3 teaspoons of Active Dry Yeast, which is more readily available in grocery stores today (at least in my area).
I've written this recipe using a stand mixer, which is obviously not how Anna would have made this. I tried kneading this by hand when I first tried out this recipe, and it was disastrous. I definitely don't have the patience for that. If you want to knead by hand, be prepared to knead for some time to get to the correct consistency.
Anna's version called for 1/4 cup of cinnamon tea and then 3/4 cup of warm water instead of a full cup of tea as I've written. I increased the amount of cinnamon tea during one of my bakes, and I felt like it really brought out some extra flavor. You can absolutely go with a different ratio as long as you keep the total to 1 cup.
*I have had to increase the amount of flour by 1-2 cups each time I've made this to get it to the right consistency. After adding the initial 7 cups, if the dough is too sticky then add more flour 1/2 cup at a time until a smooth dough forms. It should be only slightly sticky to touch.
**Anna did not provide instructions for shaping loaves. I have seen this type of bread mostly baked as a round loaf, plaited loaf, or as a pan of buns. If you're looking for instruction on how to shape your loaves, this post from Attainable Sustainable has some great guidance. Her recipe for Portuguese Sweet Bread is much different than Anna's, but I think it's a good source to compare methods.
