Recipe: Portugese Sweet Bread

Despite being named the baking queen in the family either due to frequency or result of baked goods, I have had far too many failures in baking bread to even say that I can make bread. I made one loaf about 4 years ago which we ate. It wasn't amazing and I was never able to duplicate that mediocre success again. In fact, even though I tried several times, I kept failing again and again.

For some unknown reason this year, I resumed the attempt at making bread. Actually, the reason is known. Most likely due to the desperation of the continuous non stop below freezing temperatures outside has brought to my psyche - otherwise known as extreme and severe cabin fever.

So, I found a great recipe online for Portuguese Sweet Bread. It's a bread with fine crumb and a little hint of sweetness. The best way to describe it is to compare it to the "Hawaiian Bread" being sold at grocery stores but it is more dense and therefore you can eat only 1 roll and be happy versus 3 of the Hawaiian Rolls.

I adjusted the recipe and also created a very detailed step by step instructions since the recipe above relies on a bread maker which I do not have. If you have a bread maker, use the ingredients list and set your bread maker to "sweet bread" the original recipe states.

Portuguese Sweet Bread

INGREDIENTS

1 cup milk (warm to 100 degrees)

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast (or 1 packet of .25 oz dry active yeast)

1 tsp sugar

1/4 c white sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk (warm); reserve extra egg white for brushing on top

1/4 cup butter (4 tbsp melted and cooled)

1 tsp salt

3 cups bread flour

PREP PANS and SURFACES

regular stainless steel bowl

prep stainless steel bowl with 1 tsp olive oil

prep baking sheet: use parchment paper sprayed with olive oil or silpat with nothing

floured surface or silpat (see note below about kneading)

DIRECTIONS

Warm Ingredients

Microwave 4 tbsp butter for 20 seconds (let sit and cool)

In pyrex measuring cup, microwave 1 c milk for 1 minute

If you own a candy thermometer, you can check if the temperature is between 100 and 110 not over.

Proof Yeast

Pour milk into stainless steel bowl.

Add 2 1/4 tsp yeast.

Add 1 tsp sugar.

Proof yeast for 10 minutes (yeast will be bubbly and foam; if it does not, start over).

Start

After 10 minutes, add to yeast and milk mixture:

1/4 c sugar, 1.5 eggs, 1/4 c butter (melted but cooled)

Mix until incorporated and eggs yolks are broken down

Add 2 cups for flour and 1 tsp salt.

Mix until flour is incorporate.

Keep adding flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl but still sticky at bottom.

Take out of bowl and knead on floured surface until dough is elastic.

Elastic dough will be shiny, not too sticky, not too dry.

To test dough, poke it with one finger and an indentation should be seen in the dough.

Put kneaded dough in bowl with a 1 tsp olive oil and roll dough in oil to coat dough and bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and warm towel. Place in warm place to let dough rise for 1.5 hours.

After First Rise

After 1.5 hours, take dough out and place onto floured surface and punch down dough.

I punch mine several times until it is completely flat.

Form dough back into a ball and knead 5 times at the most.

Kneading Tips

Use silpat if possible. I use plastic wrap on a granite counter top and it sticks to the counter top. I add very little flour to the counter top.

Try not to add flour onto the dough but add flour to your hands to make it not so sticky.

When kneading, use your palms (not fingers) to push dough onto counter.

Remember to knead one direction and do 1/4 turn of dough and knead again.

To Form Loaf

Form dough into loaf. Create a large ball, fold all sides towards bottom of ball.

Set onto prepared baking sheet.

Cover with plastic wrap and warm towel.

Let dough rest until doubled (about 30 - 45 minutes)

Turn on Oven to Preheat

After Second Rise

Remove covers. Slash dough at center to allow steam to escape.

Brush with egg white.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.

To Form Rolls

Form 1 large ball with dough then roll into a log.

Cut log into two and form two logs about 2.5 inches wide.

Cut each log into 10 pieces.

Form into balls by rolling and folding dough into itself into the shape desired.

Place into prepped baking pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and warm towel.

Let dough rest until doubled (about 30 - 45 minutes)

Turn on Oven to Preheat

After Second Rise

Remove covers. Slash dough at center to allow steam to escape.

Brush with egg white.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

3 Tips To Freshen Up Your Etsy Shop (or How to be Found Again)

If you just realized that you have clicked your refresh page button for your Etsy shop for the 10th time within the last hour, it is time to do something slightly more productive to get your online shop found again. Here are

3 Tips to Help Freshen Up Your Etsy Shop and Be Found Again

1. Add new items.
I know it has been said a million times. But really, add new items. If you are not selling, it is even more imperative to add new items in order to be found. Need to be convinced?

Scenario A
Someone is following your shop via Twitter, blogging, Facebook or just on Etsy in general. Think of this someone as your secret-admirer, internet-stalker type but in a good way. Then, you add something new to your shop. Now, this secret admirer will probably check out your new widget. Since they already like your stuff, they will most likely post it on their internet planet. In turn, their internet planet finds your shop. So now, you have connected with people who have not seen your stuff before.

Scenario B
Some Etsian is bored and is killing time by scrolling through the “Promote Your New Listings Here” threads which dot the Etsy Team worlds. (Yeah, you know you’ve done that once or twice). So now, you have something to add to those threads. Then, instead of someone else’s shop getting discovered by other bored Etsians, they are clicking on your link and checking your stuff out! Not to mention that your link creates a new relevant backlink to your shop which as we have discussed before is always a good thing.

Rejection Story #2: A Marketing Lesson

I am not an Etsy rock star and my shop is not one of those that rocketed out of the gate when I started. In the past few months, however, I have been getting orders and sales consistently in my online shop. Apparently, slow and steady can at times, win the race. I found out that my natural inclination of burying myself in my art and avoiding self promotion is not a good way to sell successfully online. Who would have known?

Rejection Story #2: How being rejected found me the courage to self-promote (Part 1).

Self promotion is as a natural to most artist types as it is for Hollywood celebrities to have the propensity to stay married. Of course, as generalities go, there are always exceptions: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson come to mind. Unfortunately, I am not an exception in the self promotion arena. I am one of those artist types who think self promotion is a four letter word.

The great irony is I began selling my handmade jewelry at local festivals. By virtue of showing up, it is a non stop buffet of self promotion. There, I had to set up a tent, lay out my lovingly made jewelry, and basically try to self promote. It was a lot like trying to sell my soul and watching it getting rejected over and over again. Not very pretty.

Fortunately, I am married to a natural self or otherwise promoter: he is a professional business marketing guru. So at the local festivals, we found a great system - he would promote and sell my handmade jewelry whilst I pretended I was anywhere else but there. Quite literally, I would sit at the back of the tent and wire wrap and do consults for custom work; he would greet everyone who walked by and hand out my business cards. For me, it was perfect. My husband was in his element doing what he did well and I could ignore that whole self promotion - selling part of the business. Best of all, my soul was not being rejected.

SEO Made Easy Part 3: Strategic Placement Of Your Keyword Phrase

A tutorial in layman’s terms about getting your online shop found.

I am sure that you have seen the forum posts which seem to come weekly from newbies.

OP (opening post): “How’s everyone's shop doing? Sales are sloooow for me.”
S1 (seller 1): “Slow here. But this month is always slow. Waiting for next month.”
S2 (seller 2): “Mine is GREAAAT!” Sounds like that tiger on the cereal box.
OP: “Really? I thought maybe there was a huge black out and no one can get online.”
S1: “Nah, it’s slow this time of year. Well, you’re here.” There’s always one in the bunch.
S2: Has disappeared. Just when OP and S1 were going to ask S2 “what’s your secret?”

Seller 2 checked their e-mail and found more orders waiting for them to fill. So they left the forums to get actual work done. They have figured out how to optimize their SEO by using an effective keyword phrase and properly placing it in their Etsy shop.

The Point.
Your effective keyword phrase needs to be placed in your Etsy Shop clearly and strategically. Clearly so that Google knows exactly what your keyword phrase is and strategically so that Google can easily find your keyword phrase.

Clarity.
Have you ever had a conversation with someone for an hour and never really understood what they were trying to say? What did you do? You walked away backwards and made sure they were not following you.

Your keyword phrase placement is like delivering a good thesis presentation. State what your intention is, state it again in the middle, and in conclusion, state the thesis again just in case people really did fall asleep in the middle of your Pulitzer prize winning speech. Repeating a point clarifies your point to your audience. Google is your limited attention span audience.

SEO Made Easy Part 1: Get Your Online Shop Found

There is no EASY way to explain SEO. But if I can keep the chunks bite size, we may all be able to digest the myriad of tips and suggestions to a few chewable pieces.

SEO Made Easy Part 1
A tutorial in layman’s terms about getting your online shop found.

The Definition.
S.E.O. When I first heard the term, I was like “es - what - ti - oh” ? Then, I found out it was an acronym for “Search Engine Optimization.” Um, that’s nice, but what does it REALLY mean?

It means: how to make better (optimize) the way Google (a search engine) finds a web address online.

The Why.
Why is this important to you (and by you, I mean me), Ms. Online Shopkeeper?

Scenario 1: Imagine your potential customers searching on Google. Your shop comes up on the results as the number 5 link on Page 1. They click on links 1 through 4 on Page 1. They are frustrated since they are looking for something handmade. Links 1 to 4 are all commercially made wares. Then they click on link number 5. Well since you sell handmade wares, viola! The customers find you. They buy from your shop. They become big fans and lifelong clients.

Scenario 2: Imagine you are the last link on Page 3000. Yeah, it just does not have the same warm and fuzzy ending.

It’s all about being found first. The easier Google locates your shop and puts it on a page closer to number 1, the better for your shop’s visibility. Better shop visibility translates to more views for your merchandise. More views usually results in more sales. And, we all want more sales since we are selling stuff.

Lesson 1. Better SEO equals more sales.

Seven Basic Musts For Your Online Shop

Selling online is all about trust. You know you’ve thought about it. We are all basically buying from and selling to complete and total strangers. If you don’t get a warm and fuzzy of trust and happiness from an online shop you’re browsing, will you click and buy? Or click to go buh-bye?

So, how do you communicate that you are a trust worthy online shop? Is there a secret formula to this? Well, there is. Maybe it’s not a big secret, but what I have found is that people generally like to buy from shops whom they perceive to be organized. Whoa. What? Organized?

Yes, organized. Here's a real life example. Walk into a brick and mortar shop. Start browsing around. If you are not greeted, it’s minus 1 point. If there are no prices on the merchandise, another point lost. If the merchandise is not displayed ‘shabby chic random,’ but more like 'college dorm messy,' you will tend to walk away. Organization counts. Being greeted, having prices on items, and arranging the store to be pretty communicates being an organized shop.

Here's an imaginary phone call example.
You (happy): Hi, I was wondering when my widget will arrive?
Seller (confused): Widget? What? Huh? When?
You (now cautious): Um, I bought it last Monday online.
Seller: Oh, yeah (no he doesn’t). I guess I have to find my laptop under this big mess.
You (suspicious): Um, when should I expect it?
Seller (nervous): When I find it, I’ll mail it right away.

Yeah, not pretty.

Having an organized looking shop builds trust and building trust gets you sales. So, how do you communicate that you have it together (at least virtually) and that you are an organized online shop? Glad you asked.