What started as a "girls trip" in 2014 with my girlfriends has subsequently turned in to a summer tradition that I look forward to every year. On our first tour we went to Capri which was absolutely gorgeous and had the best people/celebrity watching. Last year we ventured to Florence where we shopped 'til we dropped and ate tons of pasta and gelato in between. This summer's locale was Mallorca, one of Spain's stunning Baleriac islands.
We stayed in Palma and had the best time walking throughout the capital city's cobblestone streets and enjoying the delicious food (tapas! sangria!), beautiful sites and fantastic shopping. Can you sense a theme in our trips? So when I was thumbing through America's Test Kitchen's latest amazing tome, Bread Illustrated, I was absolutely delighted to see the recipe for Mallorcas.
It seemed like every bakery we passed by sold this massive, spiral bread which I later came to learn was called ensaimada (see pic below). With further research I soon learned that Mallorcas, or Pan de Mallorca, are Puerto Rico's version of the ensaimada. Unfortunately I never got the chance to try the bread in Palma, but armed with this recipe I could now try it's close relative!
The enriched dough is similar to brioche in that it's laden with eggs and butter. After an initial proof the dough is rolled thinly, brushed with melted butter and rolled up like a jelly roll to achieve multiple layers. After portioning out the dough each piece is then rolled in to a long rope, brushed with more butter and finally formed in to a spiral before it's final proof.
The smell of the freshly baked buns is absolutely hypnotic. After a brief cooling they are generously dusted with a cloud of powdered sugar and served slightly warm. Delicioso! I brought the buns to my family's Labor Day BBQ where they were subsequently claimed by my siblings and mom.
There are so many fantastic bread recipes in this cookbook and I can't wait to try more. I think the chocolate babka and Portuguese sweet bread are calling my name, so watch this blog for future posts.
The smell of the freshly baked buns is absolutely hypnotic. After a brief cooling they are generously dusted with a cloud of powdered sugar and served slightly warm. Delicioso! I brought the buns to my family's Labor Day BBQ where they were subsequently claimed by my siblings and mom.
There are so many fantastic bread recipes in this cookbook and I can't wait to try more. I think the chocolate babka and Portuguese sweet bread are calling my name, so watch this blog for future posts.
My friends at America's Test Kitchen have generously donated a cookbook to give away on my blog AND my Instagram, @treatssf. See blog giveaway rules below.
BLOG GIVEAWAY RULES:
BLOG GIVEAWAY RULES:
- Deadline to enter is Saturday September 24, 2016, 11:59pm PST.
- Only open to people with US mailing addresses.
- To enter, leave a comment to this post with your email address. Sorry, you must include your email address as that's the only way I can contact the winner.
