Ensaymada

A rich yolk dough rolled with butter and coiled, then buttered and cheesed hot.

Egg. Not vegetarian — contains cheddar whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

the dough

• 500 g strong white flour
• 100 g caster sugar
• 7 g fast-action yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 180 ml warm milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 120 g butter, soft

to roll and finish

• 100 g butter, very soft
• 80 g butter, for brushing
• 80 g caster sugar
• 100 g edam or firm cheddar, finely grated

Method

1. SIX YOLKS AND NO WHITES. That is what makes this dough yellow, heavy and slow to rise, and it is why it is slower to prove than a plain bread dough.
2. Mix and knead 12 minutes. It stays slack and sticky for a long time before it comes together -- keep going rather than adding flour.
3. Prove 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled.
4. Roll out thin, about 5 mm, and spread the 100 g of very soft butter right across. Cut into long triangles or strips.
5. ROLL EACH STRIP UP AND THEN COIL IT like a snail, tucking the end under. The coil is what gives the strands you pull apart; a plain ball gives you a bun.
6. Prove 1 hour in tins or rings.
7. Bake at 170C for 15 to 17 minutes. Pale gold, not brown.
8. BRUSH WITH BUTTER WHILE HOT, then sugar, then the grated cheese. Hot is the only time the butter soaks in and the cheese sticks.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes