Cream Bread

[bigbuns]

For years I have been trying to duplicate a bread I use to bring home to my mother when I worked at a bakery in Lynn, Mass. when I was in high school (many, many moons ago). They called it "cream bread"...very dense, white bread, a little more on the sweet side than regular white bread. It was baked in a crimped tube pan. Maybe it's just a old New England thing? I've never found it in any bakery since this one went out of business. I recently ran into the grandson of the owner, but no one who worked as a bread baker there is still alive. Anyone have a recipe that might be worth a try? Thanks.

[KyleW]

It sounds like a version of "Boston Brown Bread", which is baked in a coffee can. It's a quick bread, rather than yeasted. Is "cream" bread yeasted?

[bigbuns]

Yes, it is yeasted. By the way, I'm from North of Boston and make brown bread all the time. I thought that if I took a rich white dough recipe with cream as the liquid, maybe add a touch more sweetener...I've tried several combinations but just can't get the flavor right...I'm missing something. Perhaps it was just a specialty of this bakery/family and no longer exists.

[KyleW]

Originally Posted by bigbuns

I'm from North of Boston

The bakery in Lynn was my first clue

One thing that popped into my head when I was thinking of sweet and liquid was sweetened condensed milk. Have you tried incorporating any?

Kyle

[bigbuns]

Ya know....that's one thing I haven't tried. Definitely worth a shot...the density of the milk might be just the thing to help. Thanks bunches.

[baker1]

It might be pain au lait or pain de mie, both are made with milk and butter ( or just heavy cream), either way.

when using milk and cream in bread like these , it really helps to scald the milk first then cool below 100, I guess it changes the acid into lactose (sugar). Otherwise the yeast can be impaired.
Regards, Gerard

[bigbuns]

That makes sense. A real "duh!" actually. I am going to try that. By the way, would you be by any chance a certain Gerard that had/has a bakery on the south shore in Mass????? Maybe you remember navyseawitch from the
WebFoodPros site....from Newburyport area? The Nutcracker Bakery????

[Zukerig]

Although cream contributes to the liguid content of the dough, its fat content is so high that its real purpose is as an enriching agent. Cream, with a 35+ percent m.f. is usually what is meant in recipes which call for cream. A 15% cream (aka light, pouring, or half-&-half) can be substituted but it must be noted that if this is done the dough will be wetter and some extra flour may have to be incorporated.

I bake a rich, light, golden bread very similar to French brioche – except that it contains far less butter. Nonetheless, it may be acceptably similar to that cream bread….

1 tsp sugar
¼ cup tepic water
2½ tsp active dry yeast
4½—5 cups unbleached high-gluten flour
1 tsp salt
5 ounces butter, cut into chunks
6 large eggs, beaten well w/ 4 fl. oz. heavy cream

Brushed w/ an egg-&-cream glaze, it makes two large loaves, eminently suited for bread puddings!