Don’t let the 45% sugar scare you off. This loaf is sooo gooood!
This sugar loaf is traditionally made in the Dutch province of Friesland and very famous there. So it’s what we would call a ‘Fries suikerbrood’, Fryske Sûkerbôle in Frisian or Frisian sugar loaf. The recipe is my adaptation from the one I got from a local miller.
Before you start making the loaf it is very important you make something which I call a ‘sweetener’. It’s very simple but essential for the taste of the sugar loaf. Take the zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and 1 unwaxed orange and mix the zest with 40 grams of sugar. You can make this way in advance and store it in the fridge, it keeps well.
Ingredients for the Sugar Loaf
makes 1 loaf
300 g bread flour
20 g fresh yeast or 7 g instant yeast
150 ml fresh milk at room temp
6 g salt
30 g soft butter
30 g ‘sweetener’ (see recipe above)
3 g ground cinnamon
200 g sugar lumps, broken into pieces
Making the Sugar Loaf
Make a dough using all the ingredients, leaving the sugar cubes and cinnamon out!, and adding the butter last, when the dough starts forming a ball. Knead until you have a supple dough, about 8 to 10 minutes with a spiral mixer, but with your hands it takes longer, about 15 minutes. Leave to rest in a covered bowl for 30 minutes. Make sure this is done in a room that has the right temperature. About 24 degrees Celsius would be considered the optimum condition. The 200 g of sugar lumps are broken into pieces by putting them in a towel and breaking them with a hammer (a very satisfying job). The pieces can be all different shapes and sizes. In the oven they will melt and caramelize in the loaf, giving the bread it’s distinctive look and taste. Now mix the sugar pieces with the ground cinnamon and pinch them by hand carefully through the dough. When they are distributed evenly, carefully make the dough into a ball shape and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Now roll the dough into a loaf shape. First make a rectangle and fold both ends left and right ‘envelope style’ over one another, then roll it up. There are special aluminum foil baskets available for these loafs, but you can also use a bread pan or alternatively put the loaf on a baking sheet, (sugar will come out of the loaf and can drip on your oven floor so make sure this cannot happen!). Cover with greased cling film and let it prove for 40 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place.
Preheat the oven at 200º C (390º F). Bake the loaf for 30 to 35 minutes. Keep a close eye on it so the top will not burn (you can cover the top with alu foil if it browns too fast). Take from the oven and do NOT touch the bread with your hands because the caramelized sugar is very HOT! But when it has cooled to just warm, be the first to taste it, with or without fresh dairy butter! So good!
thanks so much for sharing this recipe. i was planning on making sticky toffee pudding today, but your recipe made me long for this nostalgic sweet bread instead.
kindest, monica
Thanks Monica, so ‘tickled pink’ you like it! Hope it will turn out fabulous. Very good with fresh butter..probably because of the sugar..
?
Did you use a hammer
Happy baking!
Marieke
I quadrupled this recipe because I want to give some away at Christmas. My grandfather used to make sugar loafs and ‘krentenwegge’ for the whole family every Christmas and since he isn’t here to do this anymore, I decided to carry on the tradition. Unfortunately his recipes are lost but I think this will be a great substitute.
I kneaded the dough by hand (quite a workout!) because I don’t have a mixer and I like feeling the change in structure when the dough is coming together. This was a great dough to work with although it is a bit hard to get all that sugar in without the lumps falling out. The upside of kneading by hand is that I don’t really have to worry about the room temperature while proofing. The dough had a core temperature of 36C when I finished kneading.
I can’t wait to see how they turn out and more important, how they taste!
Hi Kirsten,
My grandfather was a baker and did everything by hand. Hard work, but you are very right about feeling the dough in your hands. Hope the recipe will turn out great and you can proudly continue your family tradition.
Merry Christmas,
Marieke