Hey Ghouls!
So, this is a post that I've wanted to share for a LONG time!
Being a bruja & Latina, I just had to put my own spin on the traditional pan dulce (sweet bread). If you’re not familiar with what Pan Dulce is let me share some history with ya:
" Pan dulce ( "sweet bread") are pastries of Mexico . One of the first non-native foods that was introduced to Mexico by Spain was wheat, a Spanish religious necessity. The creation of sweet bread was influenced by the French and Spaniards who were the ones that introduced baked goods such as crispy rolls, baguettes, and sweet pastries to Mexico. This inspired the indigenous peoples to create different types of panes dulces such as besos, conchas, and cuernos amongst others" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_dulce
One of my favorites ever since I was a wee little bruja are the Conchas! Oh man these are so yummy, especially fresh! The soft sweet bread topped with a sweet streusel is just so perfect. Not too sweet and great with Chocolate de Abuelita, Coffee, or just some cold milk! Now I aren’t no Basic Bruja so of course I had to put a little spin on the concha.... add a bit of HALLOWEEN to it! and I should say I LOVE the spookiness of these! I hope you do to!
Spooky Conchas
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 packet of Active Dry Yeast
6 TB of sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp salt
1 TB vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 TB cinnamon
3.5 cups of All-purpose Flour
1. add the yeast and 1TB of sugar to the warm water, let it activate for 10 minutes.
2. put mixture into large bowl along with the butter, evaporated milk, sugar, and salt. mix until well combined.
(you can do this with a stand mixer or hand mixer.)
3. add the egg, vanilla, cinnamon...combine
4. mix the flour into the wet mixture HALF at a time. I’m using a paddle attachment, however if you don’t have one then mix until all combined then you'll need to hand-knead the dough together.
(don’t over mix, stop as soon as you see the dough is pulling away from side of bowl.}
5.after you knead the dough, grease up the bowl and place the dough back into bowl. rub the top of the dough with oil as well.
6. place dry towel on top of bowl and let it PROOF for at least 2 hours in a warm place of the kitchen. (this is to let your dough double in size.)
While the dough is Proofing let make the SUGARY TOPPING.......
Ingredients:
1 cup All-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup melted butter
Gel food color or natural food powders (like cocoa powder)
1. combine all ingredients into the bowl and mix.
2. knead with your hands so everything is thoroughly combined.
3. add color now if you desire to.
4. I like to prepare my toppings before the dough is ready so I don’t have to rush.
so, while the dough is still PROOFING roll out your streusel by placing it between 2 plastic wrap sheets (for easy clean up) cut out your shapes by hand or with cookie cutters.
5. put aside and cover with plastic wrap.
BACK TO THE DOUGH.....once the 2 hours are up!
1. lightly oil a sheet pan for the dough balls to bake on.
(now I like to weigh out my dough balls for more uniformed size. about 2 ounces)
2. roll the balls until smoothed on top (check out my video for a vision explanation)
3. place your sugary streusel on top of each dough ball and GET CREATIVE!
I did pentagrams on the black circles (basically cutting a star into it & I made pumpkins on the orange ones. make sure that you take your time and cut completely through the sugar dough so with it bakes up it doesn’t ruin your design.
4. cover finished conchas with plastic wrap (yeah, I know we are using ALOT) and set aside for at least 30 minutes for a SECOND PROOF. PREHEAT your oven to 375F.
5. remove plastic wrap and BAKE for 15-18 minutes until the bread is golden brown.
6. OPTIONAL: after 10 minutes cooling sprinkle, some sugar on top.
ENJOY & STAY SPOOKY!
check out my youtube channel for more content and future SPOOKINESS!
https://youtu.be/44YDsmE5HnE