Popularly known in Cameroon as Kumba bread and in Nigeria Agege bread, this milk loaf is buttery and fluffy with a delicate crumb. I substituted milk for Coconut milk in order to enhance the flavor.
“The main ingredient for making a good loaf of bread is patience”
Pro-tips:
-Instant yeast does not need to be activated . You may choose to add all ingredients directly to the flour.
-You can knead by hand if you do not have a stand mixer.
-Do not be tempted to add flour to your sticky dough. A sticky dough makes for a light and airy bread.
Experimenting with the dough:
Be open to experiment with the dough. You can cut out some and add cocoa powder to it (check out the video on my youtube channel)
Watch detailed recipe video here:
Coconut Millk Loaf (Kumba bread/Agege bread)
Equipment
- 1 loaf man with lid
Ingredients
- 1½ cup coconut milk
- 7 grams yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 large egg
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 100 grams softened butter
Instructions
- To a bowl of warm milk, add yeast and sugar. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment add the flour, basil and salt. Mix to incorporate .Add yeast mixture and egg.
- Knead on medium speed for about a minute. Scrap the sides of the bowl if necessary. Once all the flour is incorporated, knead the dough on medium speed till you get a sticky mixture. (Do not be tempted to add flour)
- Add the softened, room temperature butter and knead again on medium speed for 3 minutes. When you add the butter it will seem like the dough is falling apart. Keep kneading. At the end of the kneading process, you should have a smooth dough with some of it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Shape the dough into a ball, oil the mixer bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with a kitchen cloth and let it rise in a warm place. This should take at most 1 hour for the dough to double in size.
- When the dough is double, turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into four . Squeeze to release air bubbles and roll each out with a rolling pin.
- Using a rolling pin, flatten each dough into a rectangular shape. Fold in thirds like a letter . Start to roll into a jelly roll and pinch the seams together . This has to be done quickly Detailed steps here
- Place in your loaf pan and rest for 15 minutes or till the dough is about 3 inches close to the top of the loaf pan. Cover with lid and bake at 160°c for about 45 minutes.
- Partially open the lid and let cool for 10 minutes ,before completely taking it out. Take it out of the pan and cover it with a clean kitchen cloth for at least 10 minutes. This will help keep the bread soft.
- In order to prevent your loaf from drying out, please wait for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it. You want to keep the steam in the bread. Enjoy..