{BBB} Ensaïmada

Karen was reading a book where a young poor boy was treated to delicious Ensaïmada bun and savored every bite. She took note to look up a recipe and ran across one before she ever had the chance to look.

I made and just loved these morsels. Truthfully, it brought me back to so many of the Latin bakeries I have passed by, and at times stopped in to buy some treats of my own. So many of the Latin breads tend to be not sweet and not savory. But that being said, they are not bland, they are delicious! I may have cooked mine a bit long as they came out a bit darker than the other babes, but I thought they looked great that way.

They were so delicious, I knew I had to get rid of them QUICK! After moving in about a month ago, I still had not met the neighbors on one side of me. Being that the guys are from Mexico and I had what I thought to be a rather Latin tasting bun, I knew they would be the perfect victims, er, recipients. I was so glad to have a chance to speak Spanish, even though the conversation didn’t last long, it was a start. He thanked me and told me that when he made something he would bring it over. I figured that might be next month or next year given they are two bachelors. I was proven wrong when the younger of the two came with a plate filled with delicious food – white rice mixed with green peas on one side and shrimp & mussels on the other side in a spicy tomato sauce on the other. How could I not be more delighted to have neighbors be so welcoming and sweet?

Later, I decided to look up some information about these delicious buns. The first thing I noticed was that they were typically in the shape of a snail. I mean, I read something about the snail shape in the directions but the tucking in part made me think of a knot instead of a true snail shape. Truthfully, it makes me want to bake this up again, quick. It is typically made with made with strong flour, water, sugar, eggs, “mother dough” and pork lard. The name comes from the Mallorquí word “saïm” (taken from Arabic), which means pork lard. Here is a video of how to make the Mallorca Ensaimadas. I love the quickness with which he makes the snail shape. Incredible. Although there is a traditional recipe, now there are many variations which include cabello de angel or candied squash, chocolate, pastry cream. In the Philippines, the ensaymada is made with butter instead of pork lard and topped with grated cheese (usually aged Edam) and sugar. (I know…cheese and sugar??) Upscale versions have creamed butter on the top. It is common for them to eat it during the Christmas season with hot chocolate, not unlike another kind of bread I know! In Puerto Rico, the ensaimadas are usually eaten at breakfast (which is what I plan to do tomorrow!) or an afternoon snack.

Ensaimadas

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (plus additional as needed)
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 scant tablespoon of active dry yeast
1 cup of lukewarm milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of olive oil
6 tablespoons of shortening
powdered sugar for dusting

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Pour warm milk over and stir gently to moisten all yeast. Cover and let sit until surface of the yeast is bubbly, about 15 minutes.

2. Add eggs and olive oil. Knead well until the dough comes together. Cover and let rest until dough doubles in size, about 30 minutes.

3. Punch it down softly, and turn out to a well floured surface and sprinkle with additional flour. Cut into 12 equal portions and form into balls. Sprinkle with additional flour, cover with a towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

4. Flatten one doughball, then roll out with a rolling pin (use flour as needed) until you get a pretty thin dough circle and brush it generously with the softened shortening. Roll up and coil, tucking the two ends under and place on the baking sheet, allowing space in between each of them. Let rise for a few hours, or until doubled in size. Brush with additional shortening.

5. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Transfer them to a cooling rack and generously dust with powdered sugar and eat it while it is still warm.

Ensaimadas are being served up to YeastSpotting as well as the Bread Baking Babes challenge of the month. This months challenge was hosted by Karen of Bake My Day, February’s kitchen of the month. If you are interested in being a buddy, visit Katie’s blog to learn how and bake your Ensaimadas before February 25th. Or enjoy one of the other Bread Baking Challenge breads which I have baked.

Bread Baking Day #27: Latin Breads hosted here! Bake bread from Latin America & post before March 1st.

For other current food blog events, visit Current Events here on Canela & Comino.