I grew up in New Bedford, a city that was once one of the wealthiest in the world. Those days are long past, but some of the history of the place remains in the inhabitants who migrated to the city in search of work in the local industries: whaling, textile mills, manufacturing, and fishing. Many in the city can trace their roots to mainland Portugal, the Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde, Quebec, Poland, and Ireland. As you might guess from that mix of peoples, that also means that there's a strong Catholic tradition in the area, and Easter is "the big one" holiday-wise for Catholics.
My next-door neighbor growing up, Mrs. Souza, would often bake my family a big loaf of massa sovada as a gift at Easter, and those loaves would usually have a half-dozen hard boiled eggs, shell and all, baked into the loaf as a decoration (a traditional tweak to the recipe at Easter). She never shared her recipe outside of family so far as I'm aware, and while sweet bread is easy to come by (there are numerous Portuguese bakeries that make it), I wanted to know how to bake it myself, and spent a good decade working on a recipe that I adapted from various family recipes that were contributed to things like local school fundraiser cookbooks. It was more challenging than it sounds, if only because like so many family recipes, there's a lot encoded in measurements like "add enough of" or "the usual amount of", or instructions like "until it looks right." But, I think I've landed on something that, at least to my memory, matches what Mrs. Souza used to make. My father-in-law, who is the son of Portuguese immigrants, has given it the thumbs-up, too.
The bread is sweet, but not overly sweet, and the crumb is relatively moist. The Portuguese also brought this bread with them to Hawaii, and it's popular there, too, although there it's likely to be called Hawaiian bread.
Ingredients
2 lb. all-purpose flour
10 oz. milk
8 oz. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 c. lukewarm water (~100°F)
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp. ground mace
grated zest of 1 lemon (or 1/2 tsp. lemon extract)
grated zest of 1 orange (or 1/2 tsp. orange extract)
Directions
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and set aside to hydrate.
Scald the milk. Add 4 oz. of the butter, the sugar, and the salt, and stir until the butter has melted. Let cool a bit, then add the zest (or extract) and whisk in the eggs.
Put the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the milk and water mixtures. Stir with the dough hook until a single mass forms, then increase the speed and "knead" for 5 minutes. Note that the dough will be very sticky and not pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly; this is a pretty wet dough, intentionally. Add the remaining softened butter 1 tbl. at a time, letting each addition incorporate before adding the next one. Turn out onto a floured surface, shape into a ball, and put in a large well-oiled bowl. Cover with a bit of cling wrap and a towel, and allow to rise until doubled, 3-4 hours. When doubled, punch down, reshape, and let rise until doubled again (roughly 2 hours).
Oil two 8" cake pans (I use 3" high pans). Divide the dough into two equal-sized pieces, shape gently into balls, and place in the cake pans. Cover again, and let rise until the cake pans are filled. I do this overnight in a cool spot.
When the dough has risen to fill the pans, preheat your oven to 400°F. Brush the tops of the dough with a little melted butter, and place them in the oven, scattering some ice cubes on the bottom of the oven to add some steam. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes, then tent each loaf lightly with foil, reduce the heat to 350°F, and continue baking 35-40 minutes until the loaves sound slightly hollow when rapped.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pans and cool to room temperature on wire racks.
