Rainy days require baking and so, of course, I obliged. Unfortunately, my pantry was low on supplies so I threw on my wellies and headed out in the rain. It was a great walk, somehow Santa Barbara manages to be even more beautiful when it rains. The creek was full, the grass was electric green from the recent downpour, and the trees were swaying in the wind.
With my Cicero midterm approaching I was due for a healthy dose of procrastination so I decided to make bread. And not just any bread, pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread). MY FAVORITE!!
Pan dulces have always been a mystery to me. I have never known what each type was named and I don't really know much Spanish so a typical experience at a panaderia involves a lot of miming and pointing at the different pans. I usually choose a few of my all time favorite -- the calavasa empanada which translates as a "pumpkin turnover," BUT I am here to tell you that this is more than just a turnover. The pastry is not flaky like an American turnover, but rather a delicately rustic bread with a hint of sweetness and a touch of what I think is celery seed (maybe). Inside the turnover is pureed pumpkin that is perfectly sweet! I know what you are thinking, pumpkin pie, right? But no, it's really not. It is uniquely Mexican. It is not ostentatious, overly sweet, or heavy. It is perfect. In addition to the empanadas, I like the yellow eggy types encrusted in sugar (which I think are called cuernos), the pink cookies, and the conchas.
Anyway, to get back to it, there is only one panaderia in my town and it's not good (sorry Goleta). So I decided to make some type of Mexican sweet bread myself if I could manage it. Not ever having had a recipe, the secret art of Mexican bread making has eluded me. But, no longer! Diana Kennedy has a good recipe in her book From My Mexican Kitchen. And although, it is not perfect -- it definitely provides a good launching point for further experimentation!
Conchas
adapted from Diana Kennedy's From My Mexican Kitchen
The Starter (For Two Batches)
2 scant c. all-purpose flour
2 tbs. dry yeast
3 tbs. warm water (plus more if necessary)
2 large eggs
The Dough
4 scant c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tbs. unsalted butter
1 c. eggs beaten (4 or 5 large eggs)
1/4 c. water
The Sugar Topping
1 scant cup all-purpose flour
2/3 c. confectioner's sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1/3 c. vegetable shortening (a rounded 1/3 c.) + 1 tbs. for cocoa topping
1 tbs. ground cinnamon
1 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
For the starter:
1. Put yeast in a small bowl and add the warm water, pressing out lumps with a wooden spoon until it has the consistency of thin, smooth cream.
2. Sift flour into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the yeast mixture to the flour with eggs and beat with the dough hook about 2 minutes. The dough should be stiff and sticky. (IF the dough is dry and flaky, and not coming together and pulling away from the sides, add warm water in 1 tbs. intervals until it reaches the correct consistency).
3. When the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, remove from the bowl and set on a lightly floured work surface to rest for 1 min.
4. Flour your hands and shape dough into a round cushion. Place on a well-greased and floured baking sheet and make three deep diagonal slashes across the surface.
5. Cover with a piece of buttered waxed paper and a thick towel and set aside to rise in a warm place, about 70 degrees, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
For the Dough
1.Add the flour, scant 1/4 c . of sugar, salt, butter, eggs and water to the starter and beach with the dough hook at a high speed for about 4 minutes. Add teh rest of the sugar and beat for 4 minutes longer; the dough should now be shiny, soft, and sticky forming a cohesive mass that pulls away from the bowl. If it does not pull away then add a small pinch of flour and beat for a few seconds more. Repeat this until it no longer sticks to the bowl.
2. Flour your hands and work surface well.Scrape the dough out onto the board and quickly form it into a round cushion shape. Let it rest for one minute while you butter and flour a large bowl.
3. Put the dought into the bowl, cover with buttered wax paper and a thick towel, set aside in a warm place (75 degrees F) for 2 hours. Then place the dough in the refrigerator to rise slowly and season well, about 12 hours.
For the Sugar Topping
1. Just before the end of the long rising period, lay a "cookie sheet sized" piece of parchment paper on your work surface and prepare the sugar topping. Sift the flour and confectioners' sugar together. Cut the fats inot the flour and mix thoroughly with your hands until you have a soft, pliable dough.
2. Divide the mixture into two equal parts. Set one half aside.
3. Taking one of the halves of the mixture, add the cinnamon and mix well (until the cinnamon is fully incorporated -- no swirls or streaks) -- it should be soft and malleable.
4. Taking the other half, add the cocoa powder and 1 tsp. of shortening. Mix thoroughly.
Putting it all together
1. After the long rising period, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and let it rest for 1 minute. Flour your hands and quickly work the dough into a round cushion shape.
2. With a plastic dough scraper or very sharp knife, cut the dough into four equal portions. Then divide each of these into four again -- making 16 portions.
3. Lightly flour your hands and roll each piece into a smooth ball by using your cupped hands to rotate and firmly push down the dough. (NOTE: The key here is traction. Too much flour and the dough won't grip the work surface and reshape, too little flour and it will stick too much. After a few tries you'll get the hang of it.)
4. Place the balls of dough on buttered or parchment-lined baking sheets about 3" apart. Flatten each ball a little.Take a small piece of the sugar topping and rolli nto a ball about 1" in diameter. Again, dust your hands with flour, and with your fingers, flatten out a ball of the topping into a disk of about 3" in diameter in the pal of your hand (NOTE: Keeping your hands floured is very important, otherwise the sugar topping will stick to your hand and not be able to be lifted and pressed into the balls of dough. So... flour your hand (the one you are pressing the sugar topping ball into each time.). Press the sugar topping disk very firmly onto one of the balls of dough so that they adhere well. Repeat until all the balls are covered with either a cinnamon or chocolate topping. Then decorate with a traditional cutter or improvise, cutting the topping in a shell or a cross-hatch pattern. (NOTE: I used a pastry cutter to make a cross-hatch as it was much easier than a knife. Just make sure you flour your pastry cutter between each cut.)
5.Set the buns aside to rise, uncovered, at a tempurature of about 75 degrees F until almost doubled in size, about 2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place one or two of the racks in the top half of the oven. Bake the conchas until the dough is light and spongy to the touch and the exposed surface around the topping is a rich brown color, about 12 minutes. (NOTE: The bottom of the buns will be a very light golden brown color.)
7. Carefully transfer the conchas to a rack to cool in a place free from drafts.
Salve!
With my Cicero midterm approaching I was due for a healthy dose of procrastination so I decided to make bread. And not just any bread, pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread). MY FAVORITE!!
Pan dulces have always been a mystery to me. I have never known what each type was named and I don't really know much Spanish so a typical experience at a panaderia involves a lot of miming and pointing at the different pans. I usually choose a few of my all time favorite -- the calavasa empanada which translates as a "pumpkin turnover," BUT I am here to tell you that this is more than just a turnover. The pastry is not flaky like an American turnover, but rather a delicately rustic bread with a hint of sweetness and a touch of what I think is celery seed (maybe). Inside the turnover is pureed pumpkin that is perfectly sweet! I know what you are thinking, pumpkin pie, right? But no, it's really not. It is uniquely Mexican. It is not ostentatious, overly sweet, or heavy. It is perfect. In addition to the empanadas, I like the yellow eggy types encrusted in sugar (which I think are called cuernos), the pink cookies, and the conchas.
Anyway, to get back to it, there is only one panaderia in my town and it's not good (sorry Goleta). So I decided to make some type of Mexican sweet bread myself if I could manage it. Not ever having had a recipe, the secret art of Mexican bread making has eluded me. But, no longer! Diana Kennedy has a good recipe in her book From My Mexican Kitchen. And although, it is not perfect -- it definitely provides a good launching point for further experimentation!
Conchas
adapted from Diana Kennedy's From My Mexican Kitchen
The Starter (For Two Batches)
2 scant c. all-purpose flour
2 tbs. dry yeast
3 tbs. warm water (plus more if necessary)
2 large eggs
The Dough
4 scant c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tbs. unsalted butter
1 c. eggs beaten (4 or 5 large eggs)
1/4 c. water
The Sugar Topping
1 scant cup all-purpose flour
2/3 c. confectioner's sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1/3 c. vegetable shortening (a rounded 1/3 c.) + 1 tbs. for cocoa topping
1 tbs. ground cinnamon
1 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
For the starter:
1. Put yeast in a small bowl and add the warm water, pressing out lumps with a wooden spoon until it has the consistency of thin, smooth cream.
2. Sift flour into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the yeast mixture to the flour with eggs and beat with the dough hook about 2 minutes. The dough should be stiff and sticky. (IF the dough is dry and flaky, and not coming together and pulling away from the sides, add warm water in 1 tbs. intervals until it reaches the correct consistency).
3. When the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, remove from the bowl and set on a lightly floured work surface to rest for 1 min.
4. Flour your hands and shape dough into a round cushion. Place on a well-greased and floured baking sheet and make three deep diagonal slashes across the surface.
5. Cover with a piece of buttered waxed paper and a thick towel and set aside to rise in a warm place, about 70 degrees, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
For the Dough
1.Add the flour, scant 1/4 c . of sugar, salt, butter, eggs and water to the starter and beach with the dough hook at a high speed for about 4 minutes. Add teh rest of the sugar and beat for 4 minutes longer; the dough should now be shiny, soft, and sticky forming a cohesive mass that pulls away from the bowl. If it does not pull away then add a small pinch of flour and beat for a few seconds more. Repeat this until it no longer sticks to the bowl.
2. Flour your hands and work surface well.Scrape the dough out onto the board and quickly form it into a round cushion shape. Let it rest for one minute while you butter and flour a large bowl.
3. Put the dought into the bowl, cover with buttered wax paper and a thick towel, set aside in a warm place (75 degrees F) for 2 hours. Then place the dough in the refrigerator to rise slowly and season well, about 12 hours.
For the Sugar Topping
1. Just before the end of the long rising period, lay a "cookie sheet sized" piece of parchment paper on your work surface and prepare the sugar topping. Sift the flour and confectioners' sugar together. Cut the fats inot the flour and mix thoroughly with your hands until you have a soft, pliable dough.
2. Divide the mixture into two equal parts. Set one half aside.
3. Taking one of the halves of the mixture, add the cinnamon and mix well (until the cinnamon is fully incorporated -- no swirls or streaks) -- it should be soft and malleable.
4. Taking the other half, add the cocoa powder and 1 tsp. of shortening. Mix thoroughly.
Putting it all together
1. After the long rising period, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and let it rest for 1 minute. Flour your hands and quickly work the dough into a round cushion shape.
2. With a plastic dough scraper or very sharp knife, cut the dough into four equal portions. Then divide each of these into four again -- making 16 portions.
3. Lightly flour your hands and roll each piece into a smooth ball by using your cupped hands to rotate and firmly push down the dough. (NOTE: The key here is traction. Too much flour and the dough won't grip the work surface and reshape, too little flour and it will stick too much. After a few tries you'll get the hang of it.)
4. Place the balls of dough on buttered or parchment-lined baking sheets about 3" apart. Flatten each ball a little.Take a small piece of the sugar topping and rolli nto a ball about 1" in diameter. Again, dust your hands with flour, and with your fingers, flatten out a ball of the topping into a disk of about 3" in diameter in the pal of your hand (NOTE: Keeping your hands floured is very important, otherwise the sugar topping will stick to your hand and not be able to be lifted and pressed into the balls of dough. So... flour your hand (the one you are pressing the sugar topping ball into each time.). Press the sugar topping disk very firmly onto one of the balls of dough so that they adhere well. Repeat until all the balls are covered with either a cinnamon or chocolate topping. Then decorate with a traditional cutter or improvise, cutting the topping in a shell or a cross-hatch pattern. (NOTE: I used a pastry cutter to make a cross-hatch as it was much easier than a knife. Just make sure you flour your pastry cutter between each cut.)
5.Set the buns aside to rise, uncovered, at a tempurature of about 75 degrees F until almost doubled in size, about 2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place one or two of the racks in the top half of the oven. Bake the conchas until the dough is light and spongy to the touch and the exposed surface around the topping is a rich brown color, about 12 minutes. (NOTE: The bottom of the buns will be a very light golden brown color.)
7. Carefully transfer the conchas to a rack to cool in a place free from drafts.
Salve!
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