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–+ servings

Jamaican Easter Bread (Bun)

If you can find new sugar (also known as wet sugar) you can use 2 ½ cups of new sugar in place of the brown sugar and molasses. The dough for this version of Bun is quite wet, more like cake batter than bread dough. When I was making this back in college days and had to mix it by hand, I added enough flour to make a dough that could be kneaded. With a stand mixer, I allow the mixture to be wet. You might want to try both variations and see which you prefer.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours
Servings: 4 loaves
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Bread
  • 1 quart whole milk
  • 3 pounds all purpose flour
  • 3 packages active dry yeast (21 grams)
  • 2 pounds dark brown sugar less ½ cup
  • 1/4 pound butter at room temperature, cut in pieces
  • 1/2 cup molasses not blackstrap
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons almond essence
  • 2 teaspoons rosewater
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seed crushed
  • 1 teaspoon anise seed crushed
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
  • 1/2 pound raisins
  • 1/2 pound dry currants
  • 1/2 pound candied cherries
Glaze
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water

Method
 

Bread
  1. Scald the milk by heating over medium high heat, stirring frequently to prevent a skin from forming, until bubbles begin to foam up around the side.
  2. Allow the milk to become lukewarm (approximately 110°F).
  3. Combine lukewarm milk, yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar from the amount above, and 1 pound of flour in the bowl of a mixer.
  4. Using the paddle, mix well then allow the sponge to sit, covered, until it doubles in bulk.
  5. After the sponge has doubled, mix in 1/3 of the remaining flour and 1/3 of the remaining sugar.
  6. When combined, add the butter, molasses and all the spices and flavorings. Mix well.
  7. Add ½ of the remaining flour and ½ of the remaining sugar. Mix well.
  8. Add the eggs and mix well.
  9. Add the remaining flour and sugar. Mix for about 10 minutes on medium speed.
  10. Mix in the fruit.
  11. Divide the batter into 4 well-buttered 8” x 4” bread pans. Cover and sit at room temperature for about an hour. The batter will not really rise but the yeast is the only leavening so it needs to have time to make air bubbles that can expand and leaven the bread.
  12. Bake at 300°F for approximately 90 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
Glaze
  1. When the bread is nearing completion, make the glaze by bringing the sugar and water to a boil and simmering a few minutes until syrupy.
  2. As soon as the bun comes out of the oven, brush some of the glaze on top. Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pans.
  3. Remove the bun from the pans and brush with more glaze. Allow to cool another 10 minutes.
  4. Brush with remaining glaze and cool completely.

Notes

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