Cuban Bread (Pan Cubano)

Submitted by kittycatmom

"This is the best recipe I have ever tried for Cuban bread. I lived in Key West, FL for a time and could get bread fresh in the bakery. When I moved back to SD it was NO WHERE!!!! I had to make my own. I found this recipe on the King Arthur website and have used it ever since."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 6 loaves

ingredients

• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1⁄4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 4 tablespoons butter or 3 tablespoons fresh lard, cut into small pieces
• 1 1⁄4 cups water

directions

1. Manual Method: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. Gently fold the dough in upon itself and turn it upside-down after 30 minutes; this "turn" helps eliminate some of the excess carbon dioxide and redistributes the yeast's food, both imperative for optimum yeast growth.
2. Mixer Method: Combine the ingredients as directed at left, using a flat beater paddle or beaters, then switch to the dough hook(s) and knead for 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise, with a turn, as directed above.
3. Bread Machine Method: Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. Examine the dough about 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle, and adjust its consistency with additional water or flour as needed, to produce a smooth, supple dough. Allow the machine to complete its cycle.
4. Divide the dough into six pieces, and shape each piece into a rough log. Let the logs rest for 15 minutes, covered, then shape each piece into a smooth batard shape (a log about 8 inches long, slightly tapered at each end). Place the loaves on a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet.
5. Let the loaves rise, covered, for 1 hour. Brush or spray them with water, and slash one long lengthwise slit down the middle of each loaf. Preheat the oven to 375°F while the loaves are rising. Bake the bread for about 30 minutes, or until it's golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool it on a rack. The loaves may be made one day in advance and stored at room temperature, or several weeks in advance and frozen.

Reviews

[gailanng]

I made Cuban bread!!! What's next? Will I be able to play the piano and hang glide? Seriously, if you had told me one week ago that I would be baking bread that tastes better than my neighborhood bakery; I would have laughed out loud.

 

[diner524]

Living in Florida, we have cuban bread all the time and love it!! This is wonderful tasting bread and my 16 yo DS loved it!! He had his bread with olive oil and herb mixture and I had mine with butter. I made 1/2 of the recipe for 3 loaves, which compared to the bread we get here, these were 3 small loaves. Next time I would make it into two loaves or maybe even one loaf. Thanks for sharing a delicious bread recipe that I will be making again. Made for Potluck Tag.

 

[tednjoc]

This bread is delicious. I was a bit compulsive, and proofed the yeast in the water with the sugar. I cut the butter into three cups of the flour before adding the liquid. Then, I kneaded in most of the remaining cup of flour. I made one large loaf instead of six small ones. I know I will be making this again. Thanks so much!

 

[Angie G.]

This recipe is amazing. I used bread flour and butter, so it didn’t come out exactly the way I think Cuban bread should be, but I think with lard it would be more true to the Cuban bread I grew up eating. Honestly the BEST bread recipe I’ve used, hands down. My family adores it. THANK YOU!!!

 

[ttown3251]

I tried this originally and it didnt come out as planned... so I tried a second time with a minor tweak here ir there. I started by throwing the warm water, sugar, and yeast together in the mixer to activate for 5 minutes, then added everything else. 8 minutes with the bread hoo, 1 minute of kneading and we were ready to go. plopped the dough into a bowl, covered very lightly with olive oil and the covered with a towel. waited 1 hour. Then folded dough over as recipe calls for, and waited 30 minutes. Next step, toom the dough out and cut it into 3 sections instead of 6. the dough lost a lot of its air at this step, dont be worried. did 3 oval logs and let it rest 20 minutes. then made a rectangle of each one at the size i wanted, and rolled it as the recipe calls for ( fold top on halfway, fold the bottom over top, fold it the edges, and place fold side down on the baking sheet. Once on baking sheet, flatten it down just a bit. this step is important is you want to make sandwiches. Since i didnt have a palm reed to use like a traditonal cuban style way, i placed a metal kabob stick on each roll, covered the rolls with a towel, and let them rise about 1 hr 15 minutes. once they rose again, placed them in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes. the end result was a 9.5 out of 10!!! I think the only thing i would change is to cut into 4 pieces