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Vox Humana
 
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Default Breadmachine questions


"Dee Randall" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hello Sue,
> I've used bread machines for several years, and as I recall I have never
> used a sweet bread setting. So why am I answering this? Because I think
> that a sweet bread would include butter (or oil) eggs, probably milk, and
> most of all, more than 3 Tablespoons of any sweetner, and maybe an

addition
> of raisins or some other dried fruit.
>
> I have made bread using all of the above ingredients, and maybe some of

them
> have been sweet, but I've not made bread using over 3 Tablespoons of

sugar,
> so maybe this is the cut-off point for me NOT using a 'sweet bread' rise.

I
> notice that on my bread machine the 'sweet bread' is the shortest cycle
> (other than dough and rapid rise.)
>


Sugar binds to the gluten producing proteins in flour. The bound proteins
are not able to join to form gluten and the structure of the dough is much
weaker than low/no sugar added doughs. Fat also tenderizes (shortens) the
dough. Therefore, you generally don't see much more than 2 tablespoons of
sugar per cup of flour. Because of the weakened structure, highly sweetened
dough takes longer to rise and should not be allowed to over-rise because it
will collapse. Sugar also increases browning. I'm not a fan of bread
machines for a number of reasons. I find it interesting that the sweet
bread cycle is the shortest cycle on your machine. When I make sweet dough
like brioche, it always takes much longer due to the increased time to rise.
Also, if there is a lot of fat in the dough, you have to be careful not to
let it rise in too warm a place or the butter will melt leaving you with a
lump of dough swimming in oil.