Ensaimada

Dessert · Spanish classic.

Ingredients

• 5g Yeast
• 200g Caster Sugar
• 2 medium Egg
• 600g Strong white bread flour
• Drizzle Vegetable Oil
• 100g Lard

Method

1. Add ingredients — Pour 230ml lukewarm water into a bowl and add the yeast.
2. Add ingredients — Leave to stand for 3 mins, then add the caster sugar, eggs, flour and 1 tsp sea salt flakes.
3. Mix together — Mix together to form a dough, then knead for 10 mins in stand mixer using a dough hook (or 15 mins by hand) until the dough is elastic enough to be almost see-through when stretched.
4. Cover and cook — Cover and set aside to rest for 30 mins, then cut into four equal pieces.
5. Continue cooking — Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
6. Roll out — Leave to rest for another 30 mins. Oil the work surface and a rolling pin with vegetable oil.
7. Roll out — Working with one portion of dough at a time, flatten it against the surface using the palm of your hand, then roll it out into a thin rectangle, about 30 x 50cm.
8. Mix together — Let it rest for 2 mins while you spread a quarter of the lard over the top. (If you want to fill your pastry with sobrasada de Mallorca, mix 50g lard with the sobrasada, and spread this over the dough instead.) Pull one corner of the flattened dough and stretch it out as far as it will go without breaking.
9. Continue cooking — Repeat every 10cm or so around the dough rectangle in every direction until it reaches about 50 x 70cm.
10. Continue cooking — Cut a strip from each of the shorter sides and lay these beside each other along one of the longer sides of the rectangle; this is what we call the heart of the ensaimada.
11. Roll out — From there, begin rolling the dough until you have a long pastry snake.
12. Continue cooking — Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.

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