Hojaldras Conventuales de Santa Rosa

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook or a strong pair of hands
• •Two heavy baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Pastry brush
• •Talavera platter from Puebla for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the yeast into the warm milk with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Let it stand for 8 to 10 minutes, until foamy. If it does nothing, your yeast is dead. Start again. Bread does not forgive dead yeast.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, remaining sugar, salt, crushed anise, and orange zest. Add the foamy yeast mixture, orange blossom water, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on low until the flour disappears and the dough looks rough and sticky.

3. 3

   Work in lard

   Add the softened manteca de cerdo one tablespoon at a time while mixing on medium-low. Do not dump it all in at once. Let each spoonful disappear before adding the next. The dough will look greasy first, then gather itself into something smooth, elastic, and slightly glossy. That is the lard entering the structure of the bread.

4. 4

   Knead until supple

   Knead for 10 to 12 minutes in the mixer, or 15 minutes by hand on a lightly floured table. The dough should be soft and tacky, not dry. When you stretch a small piece, it should pull thin before tearing. If you add too much flour because you are afraid of sticky dough, the hojaldras will bake heavy. No me vengas con atajos.

   The dough should feel like an enriched bread dough, not a tortilla masa. Soft, elastic, and a little stubborn.
5. 5

   Let it rise

   Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled. Press it gently with one finger. If the indentation fills back slowly, it is ready. If it springs back hard, it needs more time.

6. 6

   Divide and shape

   Turn the dough onto the table. Cut off one quarter of the dough for the bones and center knobs. Divide the remaining dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into a tight round. Put them on parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving room for expansion.

7. 7

   Make the bones

   Divide the reserved dough into 24 small pieces. Roll 16 of them into ropes, pressing with three fingers as you roll so the dough forms the knobby ridges of bones. Shape the remaining 8 pieces into small balls for the center. Lay two bone ropes across each round in an X, then press one small ball where they cross. This is the sign of the bread. Make it clean.

8. 8

   Proof again

   Cover the shaped hojaldras loosely and let them rise 45 to 60 minutes, until puffy and light. Meanwhile heat the oven to 350F. Do not crowd the baking sheets. These breads need space or the bones will blur into the round.

9. 9

   Bake the hojaldras

   Brush each hojaldra gently with the egg wash. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans once, until the crust is deep golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. The bread should smell of anise, orange, and warm lard, the smell of a Puebla bakery in late October.

10. 10

    Sugar the crust

    While the hojaldras are still warm, brush the tops with melted manteca de cerdo and coat generously with white granulated sugar. The sugar should cling to the bones and settle into the ridges. Let them cool at least 20 minutes before serving. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy fresh manteca de cerdo from a good carniceria or a Mexican market. The shelf-stable block from a supermarket can taste flat. A bad fat gives you a bad bread. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Agua de azahar is the convent note here. Look for it at Mexican, Middle Eastern, or baking shops. If you cannot find it, use extra orange zest, but understand the loss: orange zest is bright, azahar is floral and old-world.
• •This is not a chile dish and it is not supposed to be hot. Not all Mexican food is built on chiles. Puebla can give you mole poblano, chiles en nogada, camotes, and these hojaldras. This is a 32-state cuisine.
• •For a better crumb, refrigerate the dough after the first rise for 8 to 12 hours, then shape it cold the next morning. The flavor deepens and the lard firms enough to make shaping easier.
• •Do not replace the lard with oil. Oil will make the dough soft but not layered, and the flavor will disappear. If you refuse the manteca, make a different bread.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be mixed and given its first rise one day ahead. Refrigerate it covered overnight, then shape, proof, and bake the next day.
• •Baked hojaldras keep well for 2 days wrapped in a cotton servilleta. Rewarm gently in a low oven before serving.
• •For longer storage, freeze the baked hojaldras without the sugar finish for up to 1 month. Thaw, warm, brush with melted manteca, and sugar them before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 150g)