Such a light delicate crust on the outside. So soft and airy on the inside. So delicious when it is toasted and slathered in butter, ready to dunk in both your morning AND bedtime cafe con leche.
The recipe for Cuban bread, the kind you find in every bakery and restaurant in Miami, is a well-kept secret. Even in a community like Union City, NJ who is second to Miami in terms of Cuban population, the bread found in their shops doesn’t come even remotely close to the bread in Miami. If you’re a carb addict like me, this is the only bread on the planet worth eating and most certainly the only one worthy of being used in our cuisine. You certainly cannot make a Cuban sandwich without it.
My tia–abuela(great aunt) Nena(a nickname for Magdalena) used to work in a bakery in walking distance from her home. Unfortunately, she was struck and killed by a hit and run driver when I was a teenager. She was the loveliest and most proper Cuban lady and a phenom in the kitchen. Lucky for me, she gave my parents the bread recipe not too long before she passed, however, they never made it! Mom would say it was too much work and she hated baking; dad was useless in the kitchen and we were spoiled by my grandmother Sara’s visits on the weekends. She’d bring no less than three loaves(and sometimes two flans!). They didn’t stand a chance in our house, especially since, Cuban bread gets hard as a rock from one day to the next so it really BEGS to be eaten immediately.
Because there are two hour-long rising periods, it does take a long time to make Cuban bread, but in the end, worth every minute. It is surely a force to be reckoned with.
I’ve seen other recipes in my research that say to bake at 350 for 30 minutes. If anyone would like to help make any clarifications on this recipe, please feel free to let me know below in the comments or write me at contact@cookingincuban.com.
Additional notes: If you don’t have a mixer with a dough hook, you can also do this the old fashioned way. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pound the dough ball down and knead by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic, about ten minutes.
