Campechanas de Santa María del Río

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy rolling pin
• •Two rimmed baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Pastry brush
• •Small saucepan for piloncillo syrup
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Whisk the flour, salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a wide bowl. Rub in 2 tablespoons of the cold manteca de cerdo until the flour feels slightly sandy. Stir the vinegar into 1 cup cold water, then add it little by little until a rough dough forms. It should feel firm, not sticky. Knead only 2 minutes, just enough to bring it together.

2. 2

   Rest the dough

   Pat the dough into a rectangle, wrap it, and refrigerate for 45 minutes. This rest matters. Wheat dough fights you when the gluten is tight. Let it relax or you will roll hard, tear the layers, and blame the recipe instead of your impatience.

3. 3

   Prepare the lard block

   Place the remaining cold manteca de cerdo between two sheets of parchment and press it into a flat 6-by-8-inch rectangle. Chill until firm but still bendable, about 20 minutes. If it is rock hard, it will break through the dough. If it is soft, it will smear. You want cool, pliable fat.

4. 4

   Lock in fat

   Roll the rested dough on a lightly floured table into a 10-by-14-inch rectangle. Set the lard block in the center and fold the dough over it like a letter, sealing the edges so the fat is enclosed. Roll gently into a long rectangle. Do not press like you are angry. The rolling pin should lengthen the dough, not crush it.

5. 5

   Fold and chill

   Fold the dough in thirds like a business letter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling and folding three more times, chilling 30 minutes between each fold. Four turns gives you the brittle layers Santa María campechanas need. Fewer turns gives you a lazy pastry. Así se hace y punto.

   If lard starts to push through the dough, dust the spot lightly with flour, fold, and chill immediately. Warm fat ruins lamination.
6. 6

   Roll with sugar

   Heat the oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Sprinkle the table with some of the 1/2 cup granulated sugar instead of flour. Roll the chilled dough into a thin rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick, sprinkling more sugar over the top as you roll. The sugar should press into the surface and catch in the layers.

7. 7

   Cut the pastries

   Cut the dough into 3-by-5-inch rectangles or long diamonds, the shape many Santa María bakeries use. Transfer to the baking sheets with space between them. Prick each piece lightly with a fork in two or three places so it lifts in thin sheets instead of ballooning into a pillow.

8. 8

   Make the glaze

   Combine the grated piloncillo, 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon sugar, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Simmer until the piloncillo dissolves and the syrup looks glossy, about 4 minutes. Brush a thin layer over each pastry. Thin means thin. Too much syrup makes the surface sticky instead of crackly.

9. 9

   Bake until glassy

   Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the campechanas are deep golden at the edges and the sugar top looks shiny and set. Let them cool completely on the pans. They crisp as they cool. Bite one warm and you will think it failed. Wait. The crackle comes with patience.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh-rendered manteca de cerdo from a butcher or a Mexican market if you can. Shelf-stable boxed lard works, but it often has a flatter flavor. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not use butter and call it the same pastry. Butter gives a different aroma and a softer flake. Good, yes. Santa María style, no.
• •The dough must stay cool. If your kitchen is hot, shorten the rolling sessions and lengthen the rests. Mexican panaderías know this without saying it: the weather decides how fast you work.
• •Piloncillo gives the glaze its deeper caramel color. Plain white sugar will sweeten the pastry, but it will not give the same brown shine.
• •Store campechanas uncovered for the first hour after cooling, then in a tin. Plastic bags soften them. A brittle pastry needs air before it needs protection.

Advance Preparation

• •The laminated dough can be made one day ahead and refrigerated after the final fold. Let it sit at room temperature for 8 to 10 minutes before rolling so it does not crack.
• •Baked campechanas keep for 3 days in a metal tin at room temperature. They are best the day they are baked, when the sugar glaze is still crisp.
• •Do not freeze the finished pastries. The sugar top pulls moisture from the freezer and loses its crackle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 50g)