Cocoles Bajío Seculares

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl or stand mixer
• •Bench scraper for cutting the rhombus shapes
• •Charola lechera or heavy sheet pan
• •Baking stone or cast iron comal to mimic a wood-fired oven floor
• •Pastry brush for the egg wash

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the pata

   The night before baking, mix the active masa madre or pata with the 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup warm water, and 1 tablespoon grated piloncillo. Cover and leave at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours, until domed, bubbly, and smelling like ripe wheat and cane sugar. This is the pata. It is old dough alive with fermentation, not chemical leavener.

   If the pata has collapsed and smells sharply alcoholic, feed it again before using it. Weak starter gives you flat cocoles, and baking powder will not repair the mistake.
2. 2

   Make the syrup

   Put the chopped piloncillo, 3/4 cup water, crushed anise seed, and canela stick in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat until the piloncillo dissolves completely and the syrup smells of anís and cane. Remove the canela stick and let the syrup cool until just warm. Hot syrup kills the pata. Warm syrup feeds it.

3. 3

   Rub in lard

   In a large bowl, whisk the 4 1/2 cups flour with the dark brown sugar and salt. Add the soft manteca de cerdo and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand with small fat streaks. This is the secular register of the bread. Manteca, not butter. La manteca es el sabor.

4. 4

   Mix the dough

   Add all of the ripe pata, the two eggs, and the cooled piloncillo-anise syrup to the flour mixture. Mix until a rough brown dough forms. Knead by hand for 10 to 12 minutes, or in a stand mixer on low for 7 to 8 minutes, until the dough turns smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky. Add the lukewarm milk only if dry flour refuses to disappear. Sweet dough moves slowly. Do not drown it.

5. 5

   Let it rise

   Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 2 to 3 hours, until puffy and expanded by about half. It may not double because piloncillo, lard, and eggs slow fermentation. That is normal. The dough should feel alive under your hand, not airy like factory sandwich bread.

6. 6

   Shape the cocoles

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and press it to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut it into 16 rough rhombuses, about the length of your palm, or divide and shape each piece by hand into a diamond. Keep the corners irregular. A panadera shapes with judgment, not with a ruler.

7. 7

   Proof and top

   Set the cocoles on parchment-lined charolas, leaving space between them. Cover and proof for 45 to 60 minutes, until the edges look fuller and the surface springs back slowly when touched. Brush gently with the beaten egg and milk. Scatter ajonjolí over the tops and press the seeds lightly so they stay put.

8. 8

   Bake dark

   Heat the oven to 375F with a baking stone, cast iron comal, or heavy sheet pan inside to mimic the floor of a horno de bóveda. Slide the charola onto the hot surface and bake 18 to 22 minutes, turning once, until the tops are deep amber, the corners are dark caramel, and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. In a wood-fired oven, bake after the coals are swept and the floor has settled to moderate heat.

9. 9

   Cool and serve

   Cool the cocoles on a rack for at least 20 minutes so the crumb sets. Eat them the same day with café de olla, or split and warm them on a comal the next morning. The piloncillo should taste deep, the anís should sit in the back of the mouth, and the lard should leave the crumb tender. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Do not confuse catalog labels with technique. The pata of Acámbaro is masa madre or old dough, not baking powder. Chemical leavener gives you a sweet biscuit, not a Bajío cocol from this register.
• •Use fresh manteca de cerdo from a butcher or a serious Mexican market. Hydrogenated shortening has no place here. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The piloncillo should smell like molasses, cane, and dark caramel. If it is dusty, dead, and pale, ask another vendor. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Bake them darker than you think. Pale cocoles taste like flour and sugar. The Bajío version needs those dark caramelized corners from a serious oven.
• •Serve on a plain barro plate or Dolores Hidalgo majolica with café de olla. This is merienda food, generous and practical, not fine-dining plating.

Advance Preparation

• •Feed the pata the night before. That is the correct make-ahead step, and it gives the bread its depth.
• •The piloncillo-anise syrup can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to room temperature before mixing the dough.
• •Shaped cocoles can be refrigerated overnight after shaping. Let them sit at room temperature until puffy before brushing with egg and baking.
• •Baked cocoles keep well for 3 days wrapped in a cloth-lined container. Warm them on a comal before serving. They also freeze for 1 month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 90g)