Hojaldras Chiapanecas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wooden rolling pin
• •Bench scraper
• •Two rimmed baking sheets
• •Pastry brush
• •Cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the lard paste

   Beat the 1 cup manteca de cerdo with the 1/3 cup flour until smooth and spreadable. It should look like thick crema, not melted fat. Chill it for 15 to 20 minutes if it turns shiny or loose. Lard melts fast in a warm Chiapas kitchen, and if it melts into the dough, you lose the layers.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder in a wide bowl. Rub in the 2 tablespoons softened manteca with your fingertips until the flour feels sandy. Add the egg, orange juice, and 1/2 cup cool water. Mix until a rough dough forms, adding only enough extra water to gather the dry flour. Knead 6 to 8 minutes, until smooth but not tight. The orange juice gives tenderness and a faint perfume. It should not taste like a pastry shop trying too hard.

3. 3

   Rest the dough

   Cover the dough and let it rest 30 minutes. This rest is not laziness. The flour hydrates, the dough relaxes, and the rolling becomes possible without tearing. If the dough fights you, you wait. The senoras in San Cristobal know this by touch.

4. 4

   Fold the first layer

   Lightly flour the table and roll the dough into a rectangle about 16 by 12 inches. Spread one-third of the lard paste thinly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch clean border. Fold the dough like a business letter, one third over the center and the other third over that. Turn it seam side down, wrap it, and chill 30 minutes.

   Do not add handfuls of flour to control sticking. Use a light dusting and a bench scraper. Too much flour makes the layers dry and tough.
5. 5

   Repeat the folds

   Roll the dough out again to the same size, spread with another third of the lard paste, fold, wrap, and chill 30 minutes. Repeat once more with the final third of the paste. After the third fold, chill the dough 30 minutes more. Roll, smear, fold, rest. That is the work. No me vengas con atajos.

6. 6

   Prepare the piloncillo

   Mix the grated piloncillo with the ground canela. If the piloncillo is hard, shave it with a serrated knife or grate it on the small holes of a box grater. You want small grains that melt into dark freckles, not big rocks that tear the dough.

7. 7

   Shape the hojaldras

   Heat the oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Roll the chilled dough into a rectangle about 18 by 12 inches and cut it into 12 rectangles. Put 1 tablespoon of the piloncillo mixture on one half of each rectangle, leaving a clean edge. Fold the plain half over the filling and press the edges gently with the heel of your hand. Do not seal them like empanadas. Hojaldras need room to lift.

8. 8

   Brush and bake

   Set the hojaldras on the baking sheets with space between them. Brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake 12 minutes at 400F, then lower the oven to 375F and bake 10 to 13 minutes more, until the tops are deep golden, the edges are dry and lifted, and a little piloncillo has darkened at the seams.

9. 9

   Cool and serve

   Let the hojaldras cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then move them to a rack. Eat them warm or at room temperature with cafe de olla. Do not cover them while warm or the flakes soften. The pastry should break into crisp layers at the edge and stay tender where the piloncillo melted. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use clean white manteca de cerdo from a good carniceria or panaderia supplier. If it smells rancid or strongly porky, do not put it in pastry. La manteca es el sabor, but bad manteca ruins everything it touches.
• •These are Chiapas hojaldras, not Puebla's Day of the Dead hojaldras and not French puff pastry. Same family of words, different bread. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •If you cannot find piloncillo, dark muscovado sugar is the closest compromise. It is not an upgrade. Piloncillo has cane depth and mineral bite that plain brown sugar does not carry.
• •Warm kitchens are the enemy of layers. Chill the dough whenever the lard starts to shine through. The dough should feel cool and flexible, never greasy.
• •Do not overfill. A spoonful of piloncillo is enough. More filling leaks, burns on the tray, and makes the pastry heavy.

Advance Preparation

• •The folded dough can be made one day ahead and held tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature 10 minutes before rolling so it does not crack.
• •The piloncillo and canela mixture can be prepared several days ahead and kept in a covered jar.
• •Baked hojaldras keep 2 days in a tin at room temperature. Recrisp them in a 325F oven for 6 to 8 minutes before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 95g)