Cuban Bread

Total Time: 2 hrs 5 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 20 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 6 cups bread flour (or slightly more to bring dough to proper consistency)
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup lard
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons wheat gluten
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 2 cups warm water

Recipe

• 1 grease a large bowl, and set aside.
• 2 dissolve the yeast in warm (90 degree f) water. add the salt and sugar. stir well.
• 3 mix the flour and wheat gluten. add lard then add the flour/gluten mixture, one cup at a time, beating it in using a wooden spoon (or using the dough hook on an electric mixer) to make a fairly stiff dough. shape dough into a small ball.
• 4 place dough in the pyrex bowl, turn over so both sides are greased, cover with a moist cloth and place in a warm place. let rise about 20 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
• 5 grease two more bowls. remove the dough from the bowl and punch it down. cut dough in half to form two balls. place each ball in a separate bowl. cover each with a moist cloth and let rise about 30 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
• 6 lightly grease a cookie sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.
• 7 do not preheat the oven.
• 8 turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. shape into long, cuban bread-style loaves. place the loaves on the baking sheet. allow to stand and rise for five minutes.
• 9 brush the loaves with water.
• 10 place in middle shelf of the cold oven. place a pan of boiling water on the bottom of the oven.
• 11 set the temperature to 400 degrees f. bake the breads until they are crusty and done - about 45 minutes.