Hi,

I just bought a bread machine with basic and sweet bread settings. Other
than the recipes given in the manual, how would I know when to use the sweet
bread setting for recipes from other source? Is it determine by the amount
of sweetener in the recipe or by other ingredients? Your advice is much
appreciated.

My husband would prefer a sweeter bread. My basic white bread recipe only
calls for 1 tbsp of sugar. If I add another tablespoon, will it affect the
rising of the bread. . Anyway, I had tried baking twice, one basic and one
cinnamon raisins and both loaves rised too high, to the lid. I guess I just
have to keep trying until I got the right formula.

I tried the basic recipe this afternoon with added sugar and it turned out
with very dark crust even I selected the regular crust. Is it due to the
higher sugar content? Should I use the sweet bread setting instead.

Thanks,
Sue

"Suanne Wong" > wrote in message
news:g11Nb.84606$ts4.32812@pd7tw3no...
> Hi,
>
> I just bought a bread machine with basic and sweet bread settings. Other
> than the recipes given in the manual, how would I know when to use the
sweet
> bread setting for recipes from other source? Is it determine by the
amount
> of sweetener in the recipe or by other ingredients? Your advice is much
> appreciated.


>
> My husband would prefer a sweeter bread. My basic white bread recipe only
> calls for 1 tbsp of sugar. If I add another tablespoon, will it affect
the
> rising of the bread. . Anyway, I had tried baking twice, one basic and
one
> cinnamon raisins and both loaves rised too high, to the lid. I guess I
just
> have to keep trying until I got the right formula.

>
> I tried the basic recipe this afternoon with added sugar and it turned out
> with very dark crust even I selected the regular crust. Is it due to the
> higher sugar content? Should I use the sweet bread setting instead.


>
> Thanks,
> Sue
>
>

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.)

If you like sweet bread, you might look for a recipe for "Hawaiian Bread."
It is a dough bread and quite common in Hawaii. One can find it on mainland
US if one looks for it.

Dee

"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.

Yes, more sugar does effect the crust and the rising time--that is what the
sweet bread setting is doing,
changing the temperature setting and the rise time to accommodate the extra
fast rise and keeping the crust from browning too much.

I think you probably need to use mostly recipes for the bread machine ---at
least until you get more experience on the machine. Most recipes for the
machine are very wet doughs. The wetter the dough usually the better the
bread---but
when you bake by "hand" the wet dough is really very tough to handle, so we
add a bit more flour. I have adapted "by hand" recipes for the machine by
reducing the flour. The first few times through I add all but the last 2
cups and let it start. Then I stop and start the machine a bunch, adding
flour as needed.
I helps to have some dough savvy/experience already.

good luck,

Barb
"Suanne Wong" > wrote in message
news:g11Nb.84606$ts4.32812@pd7tw3no...
> Hi,
>
> I just bought a bread machine with basic and sweet bread settings. Other
> than the recipes given in the manual, how would I know when to use the
sweet
> bread setting for recipes from other source? Is it determine by the
amount
> of sweetener in the recipe or by other ingredients? Your advice is much
> appreciated.
>
> My husband would prefer a sweeter bread. My basic white bread recipe only
> calls for 1 tbsp of sugar. If I add another tablespoon, will it affect
the
> rising of the bread. . Anyway, I had tried baking twice, one basic and
one
> cinnamon raisins and both loaves rised too high, to the lid. I guess I
just
> have to keep trying until I got the right formula.
>
> I tried the basic recipe this afternoon with added sugar and it turned out
> with very dark crust even I selected the regular crust. Is it due to the
> higher sugar content? Should I use the sweet bread setting instead.
>
> Thanks,
> Sue
>
>

"Vox Humana" > wrote in message >...
> 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.

For sweet bread, you need to add more yeast or try the yeast special
for the sweet bread.
In the newsletter from "Lallemand yeast", it talks about the yeast in
different regions: "Choosing the Right Yeast"
http://www.lallemand.com/BakerYeastN...S/1_3YEAST.PDF