Mostachones Morelianos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with whisk attachment or large copper bowl and balloon whisk
• •Fine-mesh sieve for sifting flour
• •Two heavy baking sheets
• •Parchment paper or edible wafer paper
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the trays

   Heat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. If you have edible wafer paper, use it under each mostachon, because that is closer to the old convent method. Keep the trays ready before you beat the eggs. This batter waits for nobody.

2. 2

   Warm the eggs

   Put the whole eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer with the sugar and salt. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and whisk by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the mixture feels warm to the touch and the sugar begins to dissolve. Do not cook the eggs. You are only waking them up so they beat higher.

3. 3

   Beat the structure

   Move the bowl to the mixer and beat on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale, and falls from the whisk in a ribbon that sits on the surface for a few seconds before disappearing. This is the leavening. Not baking powder. Air. If the eggs are weak here, the mostachones will bake flat and tough.

   Use room-temperature eggs. Cold eggs do not hold volume the same way. The old cooks did this by hand, and they knew the bowl by sound before they knew it by sight.
4. 4

   Fold the flour

   Sprinkle one-third of the sifted flour over the beaten eggs and fold with a wide spatula, cutting down through the center and turning the bowl as you lift. Repeat with the remaining flour in two additions. Add the vanilla and lime zest, if using, with the last flour. Fold only until no dry streaks remain. Heavy hands make heavy mostachones.

5. 5

   Shape the biscuits

   Using two spoons or a piping bag with a wide plain tip, portion oval mounds about 3 inches long onto the prepared trays, leaving 2 inches between them. Dust the tops lightly with the reserved sugar. They should look generous but not tall. In the oven they spread and set into that old biscochuelo shape.

6. 6

   Bake until set

   Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through, until the mostachones are pale gold at the edges, dry on top, and spring back gently when touched. Do not chase deep color. These are not pan dulce with a dark crust. Morelia's mostachon is light, dry, and made to sit beside chocolate.

7. 7

   Cool and serve

   Let the mostachones cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. Once cool, store them in a tin or clay jar. Serve with thick Mexican chocolate de mesa, preferably frothed in a jarro or chocolatera. Dip one and you will understand why the biscuit is dry on purpose. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Do not confuse these with the northern mostachon made with meringue, crackers, and fruit. That is another dish from another region. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •If you can find edible wafer paper, bake the batter on it. The paper keeps the base neat and gives the biscuit the old sweet-shop character. Parchment works, but it is a compromise.
• •Mexican vanilla matters here because the ingredient list is short. Bad vanilla has nowhere to hide.
• •Serve these with chocolate de mesa, not coffee if you want the Morelia table. The biscuit is built to soften in chocolate.

Advance Preparation

• •Mostachones keep well for 5 days in an airtight tin once fully cooled. Their dryness is a virtue, not a flaw.
• •Do not refrigerate them. Moisture softens the sugared top and ruins the texture.
• •The batter should not be made ahead. Once the eggs are beaten and the flour is folded in, bake immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 25g)