Recipe: Portuguese-Hawaiian Sweet Bread (Pao Doce)

Portuguese-Hawaiian Sweet Bread (Pao Doce)
rec.food.cooking/L. Merinoff

...here's my favorite recipe for Portuguese/Hawaiian Sweet Bread. Someone copied it for me from an out-of-print Hawaiian book, so I can't credit it. I've also slightly adapted it. The directions may look long, but the recipe is very easy; sometimes I just overexplain.

PAO DOCE / PORTUGUESE-HAWAIIAN SWEET BREAD
"Two of the most popular contributions to island life by the Portuguese are the ukulele and pao doce, a sweet bread. Pao doce was traditionally a holiday treat. Coins, charms, and even a whole egg -- at Easter -- were imbedded in the dough on special occasions. Today this rich sweet bread is available daily at island bakers.
Makes 2 loaves which can be frozen

1 large or two small potatoes
Water
1 package (approx 2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
2 tablespoons + 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 cup + approx 3 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
Tasteless vegetable oil

Boil the potatoes in water until soft. Save 1/4 cup of the water in which they were boiled and cool both potatoes and water to lukewarm. Mash potatoes and measure 1/2 cup.

Add the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar to the lukewarm 1/4 cup potato water. If you already have some unseasoned mashed potatoes, you can just use warmed fresh water. Stir briefly, then let sit about 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Beat in the mashed potato and set aside for the first rising, covered with a damp towel, until it's doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.

Scald the milk and let cool to lukewarm. Add to the risen potato mixture. Beat the eggs just to break up the yolks, remove one tablespoon (for brushing the tops of loaves), then beat the rest into the potato mixture. Beat in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and 1 cup of the flour. Set aside for the second rising, covered with a damp towel, until it's doubled in bulk, about 45-60 minutes.

Melt the butter and cool to lukewarm. Beat it into the risen mixture, then stir in the salt. Add the rest of the flour until the mixture is just kneadable, then knead until smooth and elastic (about 150 times if you're good at it). Pour a little oil into a bowl, add the ball of dough and turn it in the bowl so it's completely coated with the oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Divide the risen dough in half, then briefly knead each half and form into a ball. Put each in a lightly oiled 8-9" pie tin (or both on one baking sheet, as far away from each other as possible) and let rise, lightly draped with a slightly damp towel, one last time until doubled, about 1 hour.

Brush the loaves with the leftover egg (omitting this might give you a softer crust, but I'm not sure). Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 35-45 minutes until they're browned and the bottoms sound hollow when you tap them.