Empanadas de Leche de Aguascalientes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •Wooden spoon or heatproof spatula
• •Rolling pin
• •4 to 4 1/2 inch round cutter or small saucer
• •Two rimmed baking sheets
• •Cream-glazed barro platter from the Bajío for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Infuse the milk

   Set aside 1/2 cup of the milk. Pour the remaining 2 1/2 cups into a heavy saucepan with the sugar, canela stick, and salt. Warm over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves and the milk smells clearly of canela, about 5 minutes. Do not boil it hard. Milk catches on the bottom when the cook wanders away.

2. 2

   Thicken the custard

   In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, maicena, and reserved 1/2 cup cold milk until completely smooth. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot milk to temper the yolks, then pour everything back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, scraping the corners of the pan, until the custard is thick enough to mound on a spoon and leave a clean trail on the bottom, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the canela stick and stir in the vanilla off the heat.

   If the custard is loose, keep cooking. Aguascalientes empanadas de leche need a filling that stands up by itself. Thin filling leaks in the oven and there is no dignity in that.
3. 3

   Chill the filling

   Spread the custard into a shallow dish and press parchment or plastic directly against the surface. Refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 1 hour. Hot filling melts the lard in the dough before the empanada reaches the oven. That is how seams open. No me vengas con atajos.

4. 4

   Make the dough

   Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground canela in a large bowl. Add the cool lard and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks sandy and holds together when squeezed. Beat the eggs with the cold milk and vanilla, then add to the bowl. Mix only until a soft dough forms. If dry flour remains, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time. Do not knead it like bread; this is a tender galleta dough.

5. 5

   Rest the dough

   Divide the dough into two disks, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. The rest firms the lard and lets the flour relax. If you skip it, the dough fights the rolling pin and the empanadas shrink. Así se hace y punto.

6. 6

   Roll and cut

   Heat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk of dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut 4 to 4 1/2 inch rounds with a cutter or a small saucer. Reroll scraps once, not five times. Overworked dough bakes tough.

7. 7

   Fill and seal

   Place 1 scant tablespoon of cold milk custard just off center on each round. Moisten the edge lightly with water, fold the dough over the filling, and press out the trapped air before sealing. Crimp with a fork or make a small repulgue with your fingers. Prick the top once with a toothpick. If custard squeezes out while sealing, you used too much.

   The seal matters more than the shape. A pretty empanada that leaks is a failed empanada.
8. 8

   Bake until pale gold

   Arrange the empanadas 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the sheets once, until the edges are lightly golden and the bottoms have a little color. The tops should stay pale, not brown like a cookie forgotten in the oven. Let them rest on the sheet for 5 minutes.

9. 9

   Sugar while warm

   Mix the finishing sugar with the ground canela. While the empanadas are still warm enough for sugar to cling, dust them generously or turn them gently in the sugar. Move to a rack and cool until the custard settles. Serve on a clay platter with café de olla or a glass of cold milk. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh lard. If it smells strongly of pork, save it for beans and buy cleaner manteca for pastry. The dough should taste tender and rich, not like chicharrón.
• •Mexican canela is soft, brittle Ceylon cinnamon. Hard cassia bark is harsher and louder. At Mercado Terán, ask the spice vendor for canela en rama, not cinnamon dust from a supermarket jar.
• •Use real Mexican vanilla if you can find it, especially from Veracruz. Clear imitation vanilla gives the filling a candy-shop smell that does not belong here.
• •There are no chiles in this dish. Do not force chile ancho or chile de árbol into a sweet from Aguascalientes to make it look more Mexican. This is a 32-state cuisine, and here the flavor is milk, wheat, lard, canela, and vanilla.
• •The custard must be cold before filling. This is not caution, it is structure. The women who perfected this pastry knew exactly how much filling the dough could hold.

Advance Preparation

• •The milk custard can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated with parchment pressed directly on the surface.
• •The dough can be made 1 day ahead. Let it stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling if it is too firm.
• •Shaped, unbaked empanadas freeze well on a tray. Once firm, move them to a sealed container and bake from frozen, adding 3 to 5 minutes.
• •Baked empanadas with milk custard should be refrigerated if held longer than 4 hours. Rewarm in a 300F oven for 8 minutes and dust with fresh sugar before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)