baking, breakfast pastries, filipino
Repost: 08/24/2012
Ah, the irresistible scent of baked bread! In this case, it’s Filipino Spanish bread, entwined with a sweet, buttery, bread filling caramelizing beneath baking enriched breakfast dough. As I took my first bite as a little girl, I looked up at my dad, with my eyes beaming with delight, and said , “I remember eating this when I was little.” My parents just had a quizzical look on their faces, and replied that theydidn’t recall ever serving me this beloved treat. I was probably nine years old when I said this, but I was absolutely certain I ate this when I was much, much, much younger.
Throughout my life, I have had this incredible ability to retain memories of food. I would remember the taste, the smell, the textures, the colors – all my senses piqued! For example, there’s a photo of me when I was 5 or 6 years old in front of a birthday cake, and I can still remember the rich, buttery frosting, along with the familiar aroma of vanilla. I also remember biting into a bright pink, royal icing rose, and feeling the crunch vibrate between my teeth.
The nerve responsible for the human ability to smell, called the olfactory nerve, is the shortest nerve and it’s also one of two nerves (the other one is the optic nerve, responsible for sight) that do not pass into the brainstem (the smaller brain that’s considered the relay part of the nervous system. Basically, our sense of smell is pretty evolved and has a direct connection to the brain that our other senses don’t have the privilege of. It’s faster and our brain can process smell quicker, relative to the other three senses that is. This advantage has helped us to survive, especially when resources were scarce. When a human being smells bread baking, it creates feelings of comfort and warmth –a signal that food is nearby and waiting to be devoured.
Devour these recipes adapted from Sur La Table’sThe Art and Soul of BakingandKusina ni Manang:
Rich Breakfast Dough
1/2 cup (4 oz) warm whole milk (110 to 115F)
1/4 cup (1 3/4 oz) sugar
1 1/8 tsp instant yeast
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temp
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter, soft, not melted
1. Combine warm milk and sugar in the stand mixer bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Whisk to combine well. Let sit 5 or 10 min until yeast is activated. Whisk in egg and yolk. Stir in the flour and salt with a rubber spatula/spoon. With the dough hook, knead on low speed 2 min.
2. Increase to med speed and knead for 1 min. With the mixer on, add the soft butter 1 Tbsp ata time, blending in each addition well before adding the next. After all the butter has been added, decrease to med-low speed and knead 5 or 6 min longer, until dough looks silky and soft.
3. Remove dough from bowl. Spray or brush bowl lightly with butter. Place dough in bowl and brush surface of dough lightly with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Spanish Bread Filling
1 stick (4 oz) softened butter
1 cup (6 oz) brown sugar
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, whole wheat
1. Mix brown sugar and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Add 1 oz of softened butter at a time, until the desired spreadable consistency is reached. It’s possible you may not need to add all the butter depending on the breadcrumbs you choose. The whole wheat multigrain bread I chose for bread crumbs gave the filling a nuttier taste.
Assembly
1. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4″ thick rectangle. Thinly spread the filling leaving a 1/2″ border on the top border. Lightly press this border with the palm of your hand to flatten it. If you overfill, the filling will ooze out and cause your rolls to burn if placed on the bottom rack of the oven. Please don’t overfill, unless you want a tasty snack!
2. Starting from the left, roll up the dough like you would a cinnamon roll, and continue rolling until the top border is reached.
3. Once you reach the top border, softly lift and slide the roll closer to you. Cut at 1 1/2″ intervalsand place on asheet pan3″ away from each other, with the seams facing down.Cover with plastic wrap and let riseuntildoubled in size.
4. Preheat oven375F.
Baking
Brush the rolls with egg wash (1 egg plus double the amount of cold water). Sprinkle generously with raw sugar (like this didn’t have enough sugar). Bake for 20 to 25 min, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Baked when tops and bottoms are a lovely golden brown. Cool for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
