South African recipe for sweet pot bread or potbrood – enjoy with a braai or as a sweet after-dinner treat. This pot bread can be made on the braai or in the oven.
Ingredients:
- 1kg store-bought bread dough
- 2 tbs butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup fresh or tinned cream
Instructions:
Note: If you are making this in your oven, you can use a thin enamelled pot or a cast iron one. If you cook this on the braai fire, you need to use a traditional cast iron flat-bottomed ‘bread pot’.
Grease the bottom and sides of the pot generously with butter. Knock the dough down and shape golf-sized balls. Place balls in the pot, at least 3cm apart. Place the lid on and allow it to prove for 30-40 minutes. The dough balls will expand as they prove. (You should aim to have at least a centimetre space between the balls at the end of the proving time as the balls will also expand as they bake.)
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (on normal setting, not thermo-fan) while the dough balls are proving in the pot. Once the oven is hot and the balls have risen, stir together the sugar and cream and pour it over the dough balls. Cover with the lid and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Do not lift the lid during this time! To test if it is done, insert a thin skewer. If it comes out clean with no dough sticking to it, it’s ready.
This sweet pot bread can also be made the traditional way – on the braai. If you are doing it following the indirect method on a Weber, treat it as an oven and pop the lid on for the duration of the cooking. If you are making this on a traditional grid braai, place the pot low over medium-hot coals and place a few coals on the lid of the pot.
If you have a sweet tooth, this sticky pot bread can be enjoyed with your braai, or alternately as a pud with coffee after the braai. It also happens to be seriously brilliant for breakfast!