Sweet Potato Bread – Take One

I’ve thrown away several sweet potatoes that had been long forgotten in my pantry in the past several months.  When I stumbled upon some that had yet to kick the bucket this weekend, I set them out on my counter to prevent their unnecessary deaths.  I like sweet potato everything, so I should be able to find something to do with them right?

That’s when I decided to try my hand at sweet potato bread.  Not challenging enough?  Let’s also throw in cooking with spelt flour for the first time ever.  There.  This was sure to be a delightful carby ending to a long day or a complete catastrophe.

Maybe I’m being a little melodramatic.  It turned out to be pretty edible, although I think it needs a few more takes until it’s ready to feed to anyone else but me (who likes all forms of bread including half baked and burnt) and my handsome guinea pig fiance.

Side note: Don’t you just love the strike-through?  Can I get one of those for real life that actually strikes through what I say?  Seriously, no filter sometimes.

2nd Side note (I promise it’s my last):  My mom gave me her kitchen scale and I’m now obsessed with weighing everything.  Not because I’m being an obsessive crazy food measurer lady, but because it means I don’t have to get out a measuring cup or spoon.  If I can figure out (by asking my friend Google) how many grams or ounces of something is about the equivalent of the measurement I need, I can simply put the ingredient a little bit at a time until it reaches the correct weight.  Marvelous.

I basically upgraded from something like this, minus the little cup at the top.  Mine had a tiny little metal tray, which could only balance a small container on it.  Anything too big or heavy and Rascal was getting a treat from the floor.

Salter 16-Ounce Food Scale with Storage Container and Lid, White

To this.

Cuisinart KS-55 Weight Mate Digital Kitchen Scale

Muy excelente.  That is my review.  I love it.

The best part (and the only way I can get away with no measuring utensils) is that it zeros out the container weight.  You just put the container on, then turn it on, and it starts from zero.  If you add an ingredient to measure, you can simply turn it off and it zeros everything out again once you turn it back on.  You can constantly add and measure really easily.

Now, back to the recipe.

Recipe is as follows:

2 sweet potatoes

1 cup milk

1/4 cup warm water

1 package highly active yeast (2 1/4 Tbsp.)

370 grams spelt flour

55 grams (~ 1/4 cup) brown sugar

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Bake two sweet potatoes (I used the microwave).  Scoop out flesh and blend in blender with 1 cup of skim milk.  Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl.  Add yeast water mixture.   Slowly add sweet potato and milk mixture.  Stir everything with a spoon until dough is completely mixed.  Do not over stir.

I let this rise over night, except it never really rose.

Put it in a bread pan (spray with non-stick spray first).  Back at 425 degrees farenheit  for 40 minutes, or until the top starts to brown.

This bread was very dense.  I guess because it never really rose.  I’m new at this spelt flour cooking thing, so I think I need more practice.  Regardless, it tastes really great.  Like I said, I like all bread for the most part.

Let’s see what Brad has to say about it.

I see a take two in my future.

Ingredients
Directions