The Unofficial Cook

I finally gathered enough courage to make this ensaimada recipe from Marketman.  Ohhh, I was not disappointed.   In fact, this was the best Ensaimada I’ve ever had in my life and I can’t believe I made it!

Of course, I need practise with the shaping of the dough as you can probably tell from the photo.  Just as I was getting good at it, the dough ran out since I only made half the recipe.  But, my goodness….it was perfect!  I used a Virginia ham filling that went beautifully with the dough which was light but rich-tasting.  It was rich even before I topped it with cheese so I decided not to add any at all.  For an ensaimada like this, only queso de bola that’s specially made for the Philippine market will do it justice.

My mother used to describe to us  how an old relative from Betis, Pampanga would make her ensaimada using tons of European butter.  She told us how the dough had to be kneaded on a slab of marble, adding the butter as she went on and on with her kneading. For years, I scoured the internet and Philippine cookbooks for a similar recipe but never found one.

As coincidence would have it, Marketman featured a post on his family’s ensaimada recipe just as I was making plans to feature an ensaimada recipe on this blog.  I’m beyond grateful that someone was so willing to share their family’s recipe.  It’s truly priceless and I cannot emphasize that enough.

I won’t repost the recipe here.  Please click on this link if you want to try it.   Be sure to read the whole post and the one before that. Include the comments in your reading because there are valuable tips from the author and his sister.

For high altitude adjustment, I lessened the yeast  (by a quarter teaspoon) and sugar (by a quarter cup) but didn’t skimp on the butter.  I also added an extra eggyolk and baked the rolls at 400F for the suggested 15 minutes and it came out perfect.

Thank you, Marketman, and thank you to your sister too!

Related posts:

1. High Altitude Cream Scones
2. Greek Desserts and Pastries
3. Mixed Fruit Cobbler
4. Lentil, Chorizo and Spinach Soup
5. Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup

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