Ensaimada

Serves 2

47373

Ensaimada

Author:

Mirko Spanac

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Ingredients

• 180 g/6 oz sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 125 g/5 oz lard or vegetable shortening
• 20 g/3 ½ tsp dry active yeast
• 125 ml/0.5 cup warm milk
• 600 g/21 oz white bread flour
• Powdered sugar, to decorate
Makes 2 large or 15 small ensaimadas

Instructions

1. Put the sugar, eggs and 1 tbsp of lard in a bowl. In another bowl, add the warm milk and the yeast and stir until well mixed. Then pour into the bowl with sugar.
2. Gradually add the flour while stirring. Mix until the ingredients form a dough. Knead using your hands until the dough is very elastic.
3. Cover with a cloth and place in a warm spot. Allow to rise for about 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
4. Cut the dough in half to make two big ensaimadas, or into several small pieces if you prefer to make them smaller.
5. Lightly flour the countertop or grease with olive oil. Roll out the dough very thin using a rolling pin. Rub some lard on the top of the dough with your hands. Then roll out the dough as thin as possible.
6. Using your hands, roll up the dough as if you were rolling up a poster.
7. Then roll each dough strip into a long coil. Finally, roll up coiled strips so that they resemble a snail shell.
8. Transfer the dough to a greased baking sheet. Leave space between the ensaimadas because they will double its size or even more. Allow to rise overnight.
9. Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 180 ºC/350 ºF. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check the ensaimadas from time to time so that they don’t get burnt. Remove when the dough is golden brown.
10. To serve, let cool for 10-15 and sprinkle with powdered sugar.