December was busy. Not just because of the holidays; truthfully, work is what made it busy. While I had no time to bake for this blog, I did have time to think about it. I am happy that the first week back to baking puts in me in Nigeria. The main reason for starting this project was to learn new things about baking, to read about new techniques and interesting ingredients. To experience the tiniest food of a different culture. And not fancy food, not celebrated food; but bread, the most basic and humble food staple found in every corner of the world.
I will never make to Nigeria. Well, never day never, right? But the likelihood is incredible small that this NYer will ever find herself in Nigeria. When I first started looking at Nigerian breads, I found a decent variety to choose from. But, it was the common Agege Bread that caught my eye. It uses an ingredient I have never used in cooking and I was intrigued.
Agege Bread is beloved in Nigeria. It originated in Lagos, Nigeria and quickly became a favorite of Nigerians. It is so highly revered that a documentary was made to explore the origins and history of this bread. It is primarily used a sandwich bread and can be purchased commercially, but it is also commonly made at home.
Agege Bread uses vitamin C as an ingredient. I have never seen a recipe call for powdered vitamin c. According to bakerpedia.com, "It is used as wheat flour improver in yeast-leavened baked goods to help increase the volume of bread and provide better tolerance to variable processing conditions, such as dough temperatures and proofing times". Who knew?
The recipe I used was taken directly from here: https://aliyahsrecipesandtips.com/agege-bread-nigerian-agege-bread/. This recipe makes two loaves.
- 4 1/2-5 Cups Bread Flour/All- purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 2 1/4 Teaspoons Active Yeast (1 packet)
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 1/2 Cup Whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)
Proof yeast: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, sprinkle a little sugar over it, and set aside for about 5 minutes or until it foams. If you're using instant yeast you don't need to proof the yeast, just add to the flour directly.
Sift flour in a large bowl, add sugar, salt, and vitamin c and mix.
In a small bowl, melt butter beat egg into it, add milk and whisk together.
Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients; mix flour, yeast and egg mixture to make a soft dough. You can use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer for the process. Sprinkle more flour if you need to because the humidity in your kitchen will determine if you need to add more or less. Start adding flour from 4.5 cups of flour then add more as you continue.
If you're using a mixer after you've with dough mixing, transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead until the dough smoothes and elastic. Or just mix until dough is stretchy and elastic; that's the key to making bread. As a matter of fact, if you don't use egg and milk and knead the dough very well you would get a very good end result.
Grease a bowl and place the dough in it. Cover and put in a warm place to rise until it doubled. About 1- 1.5 hours.
Grease the baking pan and set aside. Bring the dough out.
Deflate the dough and place on a floured surface knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
Cut into two and form each dough into a loaf shape and place in the greased baking pan.
Brush melted butter on the dough and cover with clean kitchen towel and place in a warm place to rise the second time for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F for about 10 - 15 minutes. Place the dough into the oven and bake for about 25 -30 minutes.
Bring the bread out and brush melted butter and keep warm.
Enjoy.
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