Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Filipino Ensaymada (Ensaïmada)


Ensaymada is a coiled shape like a flat snail bread with margarine and sugar sprinkled on top. The popularity is similar to Filipino Pandesal. But in the 90's, its popularity heightened because several major bakeshops in the Philippines develop delicious, fluffy and moist ensaymada. This is not the usual bakery type but instead it has more flavor and yes with lots of cheese. For quite sometime, I remained a fan and a customer until I thought to myself, " maybe I can do it. I could give it a try.. and I tried.. and tried so hard and.. and yes.. I did it. So, nowadays I can just do it and eat as many as I can.. Just like Pandesal, the existence of it was brought by the Spanish colonizers in their 300 plus years occupation on our country. 

Here, let me give you a short information.. thank you WIKI.

The ensaïmada is a pastry product from Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. It is a common cuisine eaten in Southwestern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia (mainly the Philippines). The first written references to the Mallorcan ensaïmada date back to the 17th century. At that time, although wheat flour was mainly used for making bread, there is evidence that this typical pastry product was made for festivals and celebrations.

The ensaïmada de Mallorca is made with strong flour, water, sugar, eggs, mother dough and a kind of reduced pork lard named saïm. The handmade character of the product makes it difficult to give an exact formula, so scales have been established defining the proportion of each ingredient, giving rise to an excellent quality traditional product. The name comes from the Catalan word saïm, which means 'pork lard' (from the Arabic shahim, meaning 'fat').

The Philippines also adopted the Mallorcan ensaïmada (commonly spelled ensaymada in Philippine languages). As a Spanish colony for over 300 years, the Philippine variant has evolved over the centuries and is perhaps one of the most common delicacies in the country. The localized pastry is a brioche baked with butter instead of lard and topped with grated cheese and sugar and can be found in almost all neighborhood bakeshops. Other versions are topped with buttercream, salted egg slices, and a specially aged type of Edam cheese called queso de bola. The ensaymada of Pampanga features a very rich dough with layers of butter and cheese. It is customary to eat ensaymada with hot chocolate made with native tablea during the Philippine Christmas season.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup grated queso de bola
2 packs rapid rise yeast
¾ cup caster sugar
1-2 tsp bread improver
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk powder ( optional )
1 ½ tbsp honey
1 cup milk
½ cup water
1 cup mashed potato
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 cup flour
3 cups flour
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup flour

For the topping:
1 cup butter softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup and more cheddar cheese

Direction:
Make a flour mixture by combining the following ingredients: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup grated quezo de bola, 2 packs rapid rise yeast, 3/4 cup caster sugar, 1-2 tsp bread improver, 1 tsp salt and 3 tbsp milk powder ( optional )
In a bowl, combine and heat the following ingredients in a microwave for 45 seconds : 1 ½ tbsp honey, 1 cup milk, ½ cup water
Now, gradually add the heated milk mixture to dry ingredients ( flour mixture )
Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally
Stir in the following ingredients:1 cup mashed potato,1 egg, 2 egg yolks, 1 cup flour
Beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally and then add 3 cups flour  to make a stiff batter.
Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover loosely with cling wrap and let it rise, about 90 mins.
Then, transfer the risen dough to the bowl, stir in the following ingredients: 3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 cup flour, blend them well.
Next, transfer the dough in greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic, let it rise again for about 90 minutes.
Now prepare to shape the dough, either coiled or rolled.
Use a generous amount of flour on the counter top, the dough is sticky.
Brush with (or dip in) melted butter.
Let rise for about an hour in a draft-free, warm and preferably moist environment (oven works best - place pans of ensaymada inside, along with a bowl of hot water, turn oven on for one minute then turn off and let the trapped heat hasten the rising.
Bake at 350 deg F for 12-15 minutes (rotate pans after the first 10 minutes to even out browning) until done and browned to your preference. Take out from oven and brush again with melted butter (helps keep them moist)
Let them cool and then spread the prepared topping on top.
Then sprinkle cheddar cheese to finish... then serve and enjoy.
Note:
If not consuming right away, let cool on wire rack completely then place in ziploc bags without the toppings.
For individual servings, zap in microwave for 15 secs, add topping and cheese. 
For family servings, cover loosely with foil and bake at 350 deg for 10 minutes. 

Ensaymada Topping:
Beat the following until soft and fluffy:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup caster sugar

And through all those years, because of my obessesion, I have collected a lot of pictures...

 Instead of quezo de bola. I used old age cheddar cheese, what a delight.

I even opted for a heart shape

This is how it looks.. I waited patiently

Freshly baked..butter them on top right away.. let them cool



Spread some topping, sprinkle more cheese..





Happy New Year everyone. I wish you all the best and may we live our life to the fullest. Another year has passed and once once again welcome to another year of food, life and family. Lets eat. Lets giggle and lets be merry.

Where's the party?






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7 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Mareliz. Your dessert looks so good and thanks for the recipe to make it. Hope you have a nice week.

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  2. YUM! You always make everything look so good. Happy 2020. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  3. Ohh these look yummy! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party! Hope to see you at the new party tomorrow too!

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  4. I've never heard of this before, but it looks amazing! Thanks for sharing at TheThriftyHome.com

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  5. Happy New Year to you and your family, what a delicious way to celebrate! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday!
    Miz Helen

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  6. Gorgeous! I know that dough must be buttery soft with those mashed potatoes and i love the cheese topping!

    Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday!!

    Mollie

    ReplyDelete

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