Portuguese Sweet Bread (Why would I need to Cream Butter and Sugar)

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Anonymous on 30 Sep 2011 at 10:31

Hey all, 

So I understand why we cream butter and sugar in pastry and confections but I'm a bit confused as to why it may be needed in a bread recipe.

I make a Portugeues Sweet Bread that calls for creaming the butter and sugar, adding the vanilla, and then slowly adding the yolks just as you would for a cake batter or cookie batter.  After this milk, water, sponge, flour, yeast, are added with creamed mixture and we go forward as per most breads.

I'm curious if this step is necessary.  My only guess is it incorporates air and melts the sugar.  It seems to me that the air incorporated is deflated by the time the dough starts to mix.  I've yet to run into a bread recipe that calls for this process.  I'd love to omit this step and follow through more in the brioche style of mixing which is much easier and requires less machines.  

Let me know your thoughts

thanks and happy baking

Josh

please post your recipe or tell me where I can get it .. the Portugese Sweet Bread that I am familiar with IS very much like a cake.

I have never seen a regular bread recipe where creaming is necessary.  Although I cannot say from any personal or reading knowledge or even logic, that the same holds true for bread doughs as it does for various cake batters, I have certainly read claims that proper creaming and adding eggs one at a time can affect the texture of a cake batter.

If you have the time and interest, why not do double loaves - one with each technique and report back?

Boron