Cuellitos Yucatecos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy rolling pin
• •Bench scraper
• •3-inch round cutter or small glass
• •Two parchment-lined sheet pans
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the dough base

   In a wide bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and the tablespoon of sugar. Combine the ice water with the vinegar in a measuring cup. The vinegar relaxes the gluten and keeps the dough tender through the long lamination. Pour the liquid into the flour and mix with your hand until a shaggy dough forms. Turn it onto a clean counter and knead briefly, just until it holds together. Do not overwork it. You are making a pastry, not a tortilla.

   The dough should feel slightly tacky but not sticky. If it grabs your fingers, add another tablespoon of flour. If it cracks, add a teaspoon of water.
2. 2

   Rest the dough

   Pat the dough into a flat rectangle, wrap it tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This is not optional. A warm dough will not laminate. The cold lets the gluten settle so you can roll it out without it fighting you.

3. 3

   Prepare the lard block

   While the dough rests, place the cubed lard between two sheets of parchment. Pound it with a rolling pin into a flat rectangle about 7 by 9 inches. The lard should be cold but pliable, not greasy and not rock-hard. If it softens too much while you work, slide it back into the refrigerator for ten minutes. La manteca es el sabor, and in this pastry, la manteca es la lámina. The lard is what makes the layers. Butter will not give you the same flavor and shortening is not a substitute. No me vengas con atajos.

4. 4

   Encase the lard

   On a lightly floured counter, roll the chilled dough into a rectangle roughly 10 by 14 inches. Place the lard block in the center of the dough. Fold the two short ends of the dough over the lard so they meet in the middle, then pinch the seams closed. You have now sealed the lard inside the dough. This is the package that becomes the pastry.

5. 5

   First fold

   Turn the package so the seam runs horizontally. Roll it out into a long rectangle about 8 by 20 inches, working from the center outward, keeping the edges straight. Fold the dough into thirds like a letter: bottom up, top down. That is one fold. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. The dough must rest cold between every fold or the lard will smear into the flour and you will lose the layers.

6. 6

   Second and third folds

   Repeat the rolling and folding twice more, refrigerating 30 minutes between each turn. By the third fold you should see distinct streaks of lard marbling through the dough when you cut into a corner. That marbling is the layers. After the third fold, wrap the dough and refrigerate it overnight, or at least 4 hours. The overnight rest is the difference between cuellitos that puff into round, layered crowns and cuellitos that come out flat and sad.

   If at any point the lard starts to break through the dough or the dough feels warm and slack, stop. Put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and start again. A panaderia in Mérida is air-conditioned for a reason.
7. 7

   Sugar the counter and roll out

   Pour 1 cup of the white sugar onto a clean counter and spread it into a thin even layer. Place the rested dough on top of the sugar and sprinkle more sugar over the top. The sugar takes the place of flour here. As you roll, the sugar presses into the dough and becomes the glaze that crackles when the cuellitos bake. Roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Turn the dough and re-sugar as needed so it never sticks.

8. 8

   Cut the rounds

   Using a 3-inch round cutter or the rim of a small glass dipped in sugar, cut rounds from the dough. Press straight down, do not twist. Twisting seals the edges and the cuellitos will not rise properly. Press the scraps together gently, re-roll once with more sugar, and cut more rounds. Discard scraps after the second roll. The layers in twice-rolled scraps are already compromised.

9. 9

   Arrange and chill

   Place the rounds on parchment-lined sheet pans, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. They will puff and spread. Press the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar mixed with the tablespoon of water into a thick wet paste and dab a small spoonful on top of each round. This is the sugar cap that will glaze hard and white in the oven. Refrigerate the sheet pans while the oven heats. Cold cuellitos going into a hot oven is how you get the lift.

10. 10

    Bake hot

    Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the cuellitos for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the layers have puffed into thick round crowns and the sugar on top has set into a white crackling glaze. The bottoms should be deep golden, the tops pale and crusted with sugar. They go from done to burned quickly. Watch the last five minutes. Así se hace y punto.

11. 11

    Cool and serve

    Slide the cuellitos onto a wire rack and let them cool for at least 15 minutes. They are at their best within a few hours of baking, when the sugar glaze still cracks under your teeth and the layers shatter into crumbs. Eat them over a plate. There is no other way. They will leave crumbs on your shirt, on the table, on the floor. That is how you know you made them right.

Chef Tips

• •Pork lard is the recipe. Real manteca de cerdo, the kind you render yourself or buy from a Mexican carniceria, not the hydrogenated white brick in the supermarket baking aisle. If you cannot find true lard, do not make this with butter. Make something else.
• •Temperature is the enemy. If your kitchen is warm, work in short sessions and put the dough back in the refrigerator the moment it feels soft. A panaderia in Mérida keeps the laminating room cold for a reason.
• •The sugar on top is not a decoration. It is the glaze. It needs to be a thick wet paste so it sets hard and white in the oven, not a sprinkle that disappears into the surface. Press it down so it adheres.
• •Cuellitos are best the day they are baked. They keep for two days in a paper bag at room temperature, but the glaze softens. Do not refrigerate them. The lard tightens and the layers go flat.

Advance Preparation

• •The laminated dough can rest in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours after the third fold. Beyond that, the lard begins to break down and the layers suffer.
• •The dough can also be frozen after the third fold, wrapped tightly, for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling and cutting.
• •Cut and shaped rounds can be held on the sheet pan in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours before baking. Going from cold straight to a hot oven gives the best lift.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 85g)