Abacha
Abacha is a fermented cassava-strip preparation from southeastern Nigeria, sold wet or dried and later rehydrated for meals such as African salad.
Modern adaptation
Agege bread (soft home-style variation)
Agege bread
This softer home-style Agege bread uses a scalded flour paste, an enriched yeast dough and a 9×5-inch loaf pan, with rolls from the extra dough.
A soft home-style loaf
The Taste Tutor recipe describes Agege bread as a Nigerian enriched loaf with a close, elastic crumb. The author gives a softer home-style variation as a replacement for the bread-flour ratio in the main recipe. This entry follows that explicitly stated flour blend: three cups bread flour and one and one-third cups all-purpose flour. The source's instructions otherwise refer to both bread flour and all-purpose flour, while its ingredient list shows only the bread-flour amount; using the explicit variation keeps the flour quantities coherent and signals the softer result the author describes.
The method starts with a cooked flour-and-water scald, then combines it with evaporated milk, butter and warm water. Strong gluten development matters to the author's target texture, so the dough is kneaded for 20–30 minutes in a stand mixer and checked with a stretch cue. The author also describes hand kneading, using part of the measured flour for the work surface.
Proofing, shaping and baking
The source gives two rises of about one hour each, with the dough covered in a warm place until doubled. Shape most of the dough into a log for a 9×5-inch loaf pan; the remaining dough is divided into four rolls. The page also gives an alternative yield of sixteen mini loaves or rolls at 70 g each, but does not explain how that count relates to the loaf-pan method, so the steps here follow the one-loaf-plus-four-roll route.
Bake the loaf for 30 minutes at 350°F (177°C) and the rolls for 15 minutes. Brush the baked bread with butter and cool it on a rack. The source gives no internal temperature.
Food handling
Do not taste raw flour or dough. Keep it away from ready-to-eat food and clean hands and surfaces after handling. Because the dough contains dairy, the two warm rises together should stay within FoodSafety.gov's general two-hour limit for perishable food, or one hour when temperatures are above 90°F (32°C). Refrigerate dough if a delay would extend that schedule. These general rules do not validate the recipe's proofing conditions.
History
The bread archive and cited Nigerian recipe associate Agege bread with Nigeria. The author calls this a softer home-style variation and does not date the bread's first attestation or claim a single origin.
Ingredients
Yield 1 9×5-inch loaf plus four rolls from extra dough · Scaling: source batch only
Bread flourFor the scalded flour.
118 mL½ cup as recorded
60 g.WaterFor the scalded flour.
237 mL1 cup as recorded
The source gives 236.56 g.Bread flourFor the dough.
710 mL3 cup as recorded
360 g; the source's softer home-style variation uses this amount.All-purpose flourFor the dough.
315 mL1.33 cup as recorded
1⅓ cups (160 g); source's softer home-style variation.79 mL0.33 cup as recorded
67 g.4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
59 mL¼ cup as recorded
32 g.Nutmeg
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
Ascorbic acidVitamin C.
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
Instant yeastOne packet.
7 g
Evaporated milk
158 mL0.67 cup as recorded
162.66 g.Salted butterMelted, for the dough.
79 mL0.33 cup as recorded
75.58 g.WaterFor the dough; source specifies 120–130°F (49–54°C).
79 mL0.33 cup as recorded
78.83 g.Salted butterFor brushing after baking.
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
OilFor greasing pans and the bowl.
Amount not stated
Thin layer; source gives no quantity.Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour and dough
Raw flour may carry harmful bacteria; this recipe also includes dairy ingredients.
Hazard sourceExtended warm proofing of dough with dairy
The recipe uses evaporated milk and butter, then proofing in a warm place; its two rises are each about one hour.
Hazard sourceDo not taste raw flour or dough; prevent contact with ready-to-eat foods and wash hands, tools and work surfaces after handling.
Control sourceKeep the combined warm proofing periods within the food-safety guidance for perishable food: refrigerate within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if exposed above 90°F (32°C); refrigerate dough if a delay extends the schedule.
Control sourceThe scald is cooked before it is cooled. Do not taste flour mixtures before they are fully cooked.
The source does not state an internal bread temperature; follow its described bake and full-bake cue without treating crust color alone as a safety test.
- Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and a second pan for any rolls. For the scald, whisk ½ cup (60 g) bread flour with 1 cup (236.56 g) water in a small pot until smooth. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens to a soft, loose mashed-potato texture. Do not taste the raw or partly cooked flour mixture. Transfer it to a bowl and cool uncovered to room temperature.
- Use the softer home-style flour ratio stated by the author: 3 cups (360 g) bread flour and 1⅓ cups (160 g) all-purpose flour. Stir these with the sugar, salt, nonfat dry milk, nutmeg, ascorbic acid and instant yeast.
- In another bowl, whisk the cooled scald with the evaporated milk and melted butter until mostly smooth. Stir in ⅓ cup (78.83 g) water heated to 120–130°F (49–54°C). Add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Knead with a stand mixer and dough hook on medium speed until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, about 20–30 minutes, scraping the bowl every five minutes. For hand kneading, reserve ⅓ cup of the measured flour, dust a clean surface with it and knead longer. The source's readiness cue is a piece of dough stretched thin enough to look translucent.
- Shape the dough into a ball. Put it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about one hour.
- Punch down the dough. Shape a large portion into a square, roll it into a log and place it in the prepared loaf pan. Divide the remaining dough into four rolls and place them in the second pan. Cover both pans and let the dough rise until doubled, about one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Bake the loaf on the middle rack for 30 minutes; bake the rolls for about 15 minutes. Remove the bread when fully baked and brush with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Turn the loaves out of their pans and cool on a rack.
Conditions
Yield1 9×5-inch loaf plus four rolls from extra dough
Fermentationfrom 2 h
Places
Nigeria
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe archive and author associate Agege bread with Nigeria; this country-level association does not claim a single birthplace.
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Sources
Taste TutorInspiration · Method · History
AGEGE BREADBase formula including the scalded flour, measured ingredients, dough hydration and temperatures, kneading cue, proofing, shaping, oven temperature and bake times.
The author explicitly supplies a softer home-style flour variation of 3 cups bread flour and 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour; this body follows that variation and distinguishes it from the bread-flour-only ingredient list.
The page tags the recipe Nigerian and does not provide a dated first attestation or single-origin evidence.
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowDo not eat or taste raw flour or dough; prevent cross-contact and clean hands, tools and surfaces after handling.
FoodSafety.govSafety
4 Steps to Food SafetyRefrigerate perishable foods within two hours, or within one hour when exposed above 90°F (32°C); refrigerator should be at 40°F (4°C) or below.