What is an ensaymada? I have very little information about it. It's similar to a Hawaiian roll topped with flavored buttercream. It is a soft, fluffy, pillow of sweetness. It really is quite enjoyable.
Why am I writing about ensaymadas? I wouldn't be if my dad hadn't visited my sister in California, and if he didnt like to bake as well. Next to her wonderful, little plant shop (Indy Trading Co) is an ensaymada bakery. Apparently, it's the only baked good they make. I have never been, but when my parents came back it was all they could talk about. That and my adorable, little nephew Oliver; understandable.
My dad was determined to bake ensaymadas. Since I am the baker, we had to do it together. The recipe isn't too complicated. The most difficult part was letting it rise, as it usually is. After that the difficult part was rolling to the appropriate size. The recipe I used made 16 ensaymadas. It also called for shredded cheese on top of the rolls, which surprisingly was very good.
First we made the dough, which called for yeast, milk, sugar, salt, flour, egg yolks and shortening. I did not have shortening, so I substituted butter. The recipe says using shortening will result in lighter and fluffier rolls. While I'm sure that is true, I never have shortening, only butter, so I will never know. Once the dough is combined, it has to rise for 2-3 hours. We waited 2.5 hours.
While we waited, I taught my dad how to make macarons. He did a great job, and they turned out wonderfully. We made a mix of chocolate and honey lavender macarons. He loved the honey lavender. They are a fan favorite.
Once the dough had risen, about doubling in size, we had to roll it into a log then cut into two pieces. We repeated this until we had 16 pieces. We did it with our hands first then switched over to rolling pins. We had to roll each of the 16 pieces into 8x4 rectangles. Once they were shaped, we spread butter on them, then rolled them from the long edge. Once they were rolled (like cinnamon rolls) we shaped them, basically coiling them into knots and tucking the ends underneath. Then the rolls have to rise again for 30 minutes.
There are two ways you can bake these. One is in cupcake tins with liners, the other is to shape them and let them bake on baking sheets. We did both ways. But the benefit for the cupcake tins is that the rolls keep their cute shape and rise up instead of spreading outward. They look much better if done in cupcake tins.
After they rose again, we baked them! Till they were golden (mostly), about 25 minutes. Then we had to wait for them to cool. Honestly, looking back, there was a bit of waiting in this recipe. While we waited, we watched the Great British Baking Show of course. :) Once they had cooled, we slathered buttercream on them. We had some leftover from the macarons, honey lavender and chocolate. I also reduced some mango and added them to a plain buttercream. We ended up with 4 of each flavor: mango, honey lavender, chocolate and buttercream with cheese.
Surprisingly, the buttercream with cheese was the best one! A thin layer of plain buttercream with shredded asiago cheese on top ended up being a delightful mix of sweet and cheese. I was hesitant about the combination, but it was so good. I'm looking forward to making variations of this in the future. I'm glad my dad had the idea!
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