Ensaïmada

Name: Ensaimada
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: Serves 8 - 10
Ingredients: 200 ml lukewarm milk; 2 tsp dried yeast; 500 gm plain flour (3 cups); 180 gm raw caster sugar; 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, at room temperature; 200 gm softened butter; 70 gm icing sugar, sieved; Scraped seeds of 2 vanilla beans

A delicious flaky pastry that hails from Mallorca. Break a piece off, dip in hot coffee, repeat.

Aug 07, 2013 2:40am

By Emma Knowles

Serves 8 - 10
45 mins preparation
25 mins cooking plus proving

Ensaïmada

This heavenly flaky pastry is traditional to Mallorca, where it's usually made with lard. We've opted for butter to make it vegetarian-friendly, but feel free to go down the traditional road (be sure to use good lard for best results). Pair with a strong coffee or comforting hot chocolate for dipping.

Ingredients

200 ml lukewarm milk
2 tsp dried yeast
500 gm plain flour (3 cups)
180 gm raw caster sugar
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
200 gm softened butter

Vanilla sugar

70 gm icing sugar, sieved
Scraped seeds of 2 vanilla beans

Method

1
Stir milk and yeast in a bowl to dissolve, then stand until foamy (4-5 minutes).
2
Combine flour, sugar, eggs and yolk, yeast mixture and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, then knead until a soft elastic dough forms (2-3 minutes). Cover with plastic wrap and stand until doubled in size (45 minutes).
3
Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out dough on a well-floured surface to a 50cm square, dusting lightly with extra flour as you go. Spread butter over dough, then roll into a cylinder. Re-roll to a rough 15cm x 65cm rectangle, then, from the longest side, roll again into a narrow cylinder. Loosely coil cylinder on a large baking tray lined with baking paper, cover with a large upturned bowl and set aside to rise until the sides of the dough touch each another (1½-2 hours). Bake until golden and cooked through (20-25 minutes).
4
For vanilla sugar, place icing sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl and rub to combine.
5
Dust wtih vanilla sugar and serve warm or at room temperature. Ensaïmada is best eaten the day it's made, but can be stored in an airtight container and warmed a day or two later.