# Cream Bread



## bigbuns (Jun 28, 2004)

For years I have been trying to duplicate a bread I use to bring home to my mother when I worked at a bakery in Lynn, Mass. when I was in high school (many, many moons ago). They called it "cream bread"...very dense, white bread, a little more on the sweet side than regular white bread. It was baked in a crimped tube pan. Maybe it's just a old New England thing? I've never found it in any bakery since this one went out of business. I recently ran into the grandson of the owner, but no one who worked as a bread baker there is still alive. Anyone have a recipe that might be worth a try? Thanks.


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## kylew (Aug 14, 2000)

It sounds like a version of "Boston Brown Bread", which is baked in a coffee can. It's a quick bread, rather than yeasted. Is "cream" bread yeasted?


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## bigbuns (Jun 28, 2004)

Yes, it is yeasted. By the way, I'm from North of Boston and make brown bread all the time. I thought that if I took a rich white dough recipe with cream as the liquid, maybe add a touch more sweetener...I've tried several combinations but just can't get the flavor right...I'm missing something. Perhaps it was just a specialty of this bakery/family and no longer exists.


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## kylew (Aug 14, 2000)

The bakery in Lynn was my first clue  

One thing that popped into my head when I was thinking of sweet and liquid was sweetened condensed milk. Have you tried incorporating any?

Kyle


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## bigbuns (Jun 28, 2004)

Ya know....that's one thing I haven't tried. Definitely worth a shot...the density of the milk might be just the thing to help. Thanks bunches.


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## baker1 (Sep 21, 2004)

It might be pain au lait or pain de mie, both are made with milk and butter ( or just heavy cream), either way.

when using milk and cream in bread like these , it really helps to scald the milk first then cool below 100, I guess it changes the acid into lactose (sugar). Otherwise the yeast can be impaired.
Regards, Gerard


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## bigbuns (Jun 28, 2004)

That makes sense. A real "duh!" actually. I am going to try that. By the way, would you be by any chance a certain Gerard that had/has a bakery on the south shore in Mass????? Maybe you remember navyseawitch from the
WebFoodPros site....from Newburyport area? The Nutcracker Bakery????


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## zukerig (Sep 23, 2004)

Although cream contributes to the liguid content of the dough, its fat content is so high that its real purpose is as an enriching agent. Cream, with a 35+ percent m.f. is usually what is meant in recipes which call for cream. A 15% cream (aka light, pouring, or half-&-half) can be substituted but it must be noted that if this is done the dough will be wetter and some extra flour may have to be incorporated.

I bake a rich, light, golden bread very similar to French brioche – except that it contains far less butter. Nonetheless, it may be acceptably similar to that cream bread….

1 tsp sugar
¼ cup tepic water
2½ tsp active dry yeast
4½—5 cups unbleached high-gluten flour
1 tsp salt
5 ounces butter, cut into chunks
6 large eggs, beaten well w/ 4 fl. oz. heavy cream

Brushed w/ an egg-&-cream glaze, it makes two large loaves, eminently suited for bread puddings!


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