Gluten-Free Portuguese Masa
By: The Dusty Baker
Published: Monday, April 18, 2011 - 7:51pm

Ingredients




1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup quinoa flour
1 cup white rice flour
2 cups arrowroot starch
1/2 cup millet flour
8 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons whiskey (omit if extremely gluten-free, this has gluten in it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 zest of lemon

Preparation

1 Blend flours, starch and xanthan gum in a large bowl, whisking or sifting thoroughly to incorporate. 2 In a small saucepan melt butter and slowly whisk in milk.  Turn off the heat but make sure this is slightly warm before adding to batter. 3 Dissolve yeast with about 1/4 cup warm water and set aside 4 In a standing mixer with the bread hook attachment, beat eggs and sugar until creamy. 5 Add salt, lemon zest, whiskey, extracts, 5 cups of flour blend and the milk/butter mixture. 6 Mix on low / medium to incorporate, then add yeast. Mix on low until all is incorporated, then bring speed up to medium and mix about 10 minutes or until air bubbles form around the sides. 7 Remove to an oiled bowl.  Cover in clean dishcloths and then a large bath towel or blanket, and remove to a warm place.  Let sit for two hours or so.  Note: Gluten-free breads don’t ‘double in size’ like most breads.  But it should be fluffier after this time. 8 Flour a wooden cutting board or line and flour a non-wooden board.  Shape the dough into four small loaves (or two larger ones if you prefer).  Wrap in towels and let sit overnight. 9 In the morning, remove to thick baking sheets and preheat oven to 300°. 10 Bake for 38 minutes or until only slightly springy on top. 11 Eat AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THEY’RE SO YUMMY! 12 Store remains in plastic wrap and eat within three days.

About


I did a little happy dance when I tasted the result of this recipe, and with a joyful smile my boyfriend joked that I have now become a woman. In any other circumstance would have sent me into a feminist tirade. But it is a strange right of passage I am happy to embrace. My mother, tias, and grandmother all have their recipes for masa sovada, and now I have mine. Masa is a Portuguese sweet bread made in my family every year around Easter. For the holiday we wrap the risen dough around painted, hard-boiled eggs and eat them Easter morning. Scented with lemon, anisette and (in my grandmother’s recipe!) whiskey, it’s eggy and sweet. Recipes all vary in their density; the kind you purchase in stores is usually very light and fluffy. But my mother’s was always a bit denser, so that’s the kind I grew up appreciating and wanting to replicate. And because gluten-free breads are generally denser anyway, this was also a matter of necessity. I’m in possession of three recipes: my Avo’s (grandmother), my Tia Albertina’s (great-aunt) and my Tia Vidalia’s (aunt). I’ve made the recipe with my mother, but never attempted to make this bread both gluten and milk free. And it came out deliciously! Lots of Notes: I researched a decent blend of flours to estimate a bread flour – because of the proportions I was using, I made 8 cups of flour but only needed five. I used almond milk but also regular butter, which doesn’t seem to affect my stomach in smaller doses due to the lack of milk protein that’s found in other forms. If you need it completely dairy free substitute with butter flavored Earth Balance, not shortening. This recipe is not completely gluten-free because of the whiskey. Omit if you’re going completely GF. Also, most recipes call for a lot of kneading because kneading helps to develop the gluten. So with this just knead until smooth so that your loaves come out a bit prettier than my test loaves did! Oh, one last thing! I like to follow my grandmother’s lead and leave these overnight in a warm place. So I turned my oven on just to 150° and as soon as it was warm turned it off. I then wrapped my breads in tea towels, then the entire cutting board in a bath towel and put it in the oven overnight. They rose perfectly and we ready for baking by breakfast! One last thing, actually! I didn’t put the eggs in this, but will next week when I make it for Easter. Literally just prepare your hard-boiled eggs, make sure they’re dry and hide one in each loaf of bread right before baking!

Comments:
Anita o

This is amazing! More Portuguese recipes pleaseeeee!!! Also is there a way I can email this recipe to myself/others - perhaps I've missed the link?
Anita o

This is amazing! More Portuguese recipes pleaseeeee!!! Also is there a way I can email this recipe to myself/others - perhaps I've missed the link?
Anita o

This is amazing! More Portuguese recipes pleaseeeee!!! Also is there a way I can email this recipe to myself/others - perhaps I've missed the link?
Casey A

So... are we supposed to eventually mix in all of the flour or only 5 cups of it?
The Dusty Baker

Just five cups as stated... I found that this recipes works best with this mix, and it's hard to calculate to five cups of it, so I make a larger batch for several kinds of recipes. Let me know how it comes out!