Pan de Huevo de Todos Santos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook, or a large wooden bowl and your hands
• •Wooden work surface for kneading and shaping
• •Heavy-bottomed baking sheet
• •Parchment paper
• •Pastry brush for the egg wash
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   In a small bowl, combine the warm milk with one tablespoon of the sugar and the yeast. Stir once. Let it sit for 10 minutes, until the surface turns foamy and the smell goes from raw to bready. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead. Throw it out and start with fresh. Do not skip this step. A pan de huevo without the rise is a hockey puck.

   The milk should feel warm on the inside of your wrist, never hot. Anything past 115F kills the yeast and you will not know until the dough refuses to climb.
2. 2

   Build the dough

   In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar, salt, and orange zest. Make a well in the center. Add the eggs, egg yolks, the foamy milk-yeast mixture, and the orange blossom water if using. Mix with a wooden spoon or the dough hook on low until a shaggy dough forms. This is wheat country. The north and the Baja peninsula bake with flour, not corn, and the dough should come together quickly.

3. 3

   Work in the lard

   Once the dough holds together, add the softened lard one spoonful at a time. Knead between each addition, by hand for about 12 minutes or with the dough hook on medium for 8 minutes. The dough will fight you at first. It will look broken. Keep going. The lard works in and the dough turns smooth, elastic, and slightly shiny. La manteca es el sabor. Butter will not give you the same tender crumb, and shortening tastes like nothing. Use lard.

   Good manteca de cerdo from a Mexican carniceria is the right ingredient. The white blocks at the supermarket are hydrogenated and lifeless. If you can render your own from pork back fat, even better.
4. 4

   First rise

   Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic. Let it rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled. In Todos Santos this happens fast because the kitchen is warm and the sea air is humid. In a cold kitchen it can take three hours. Trust the dough, not the clock.

5. 5

   Shape the rolls

   Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured wooden surface. Divide it into 12 equal pieces, about 90 grams each if you have a scale. Roll each piece into a tight ball by cupping your palm over it and dragging it in small circles against the wood. The surface should pull tight. Then roll each ball under your palms into a short cylinder, slightly tapered at the ends. This is the torcido shape that the panaderias of Todos Santos and El Pescadero have made for generations.

6. 6

   Second rise

   Arrange the shaped rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet with about two inches between each one. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel. Let them rise again for 45 minutes to an hour, until they look puffed and a finger pressed gently into the side leaves a slow-filling dent. The second rise is where the crumb gets its airy structure. No me vengas con atajos. Underproofed pan de huevo is dense and tight.

7. 7

   Bake until golden

   Heat the oven to 375F. Brush each roll generously with the egg wash. A thin coat will not give you the deep golden color that pan de huevo is named for. Sprinkle the tops with the finishing sugar. Bake on the middle rack for 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The rolls are done when the tops are deep golden brown, almost mahogany at the peaks, and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. In Panaderia El Poblano they come out of the brick horno with the same color, only deeper from the mesquite smoke.

   If your oven runs hot, the egg wash will brown before the inside is set. Drop to 350F and add five minutes if you have any doubt. A pale pan de huevo is a sad pan de huevo, but a burned one is worse.
8. 8

   Cool and serve

   Transfer the rolls to a wire rack. Let them rest for 15 minutes before eating. The crumb finishes setting as they cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with cafe de olla. Tear them open, never cut with a knife. The crumb should be airy, golden, and faintly sweet, with the orange just whispering underneath. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy real manteca de cerdo from a Mexican carniceria or render your own from pork back fat. The shelf-stable blocks at the supermarket are hydrogenated and will give you a bread that tastes like wax. The fat is the recipe.
• •Room temperature eggs matter. Cold eggs from the fridge will seize the lard and the dough will look broken. If you forgot to set them out, sit them in a bowl of warm tap water for ten minutes before you start.
• •If you do not have orange blossom water, the bread is still good with just the zest. But if you can find azahar at a Mexican grocery or a Middle Eastern market, it is the detail that makes the bread smell like a Todos Santos panaderia at six in the morning.
• •These rolls are at their best the day they are baked. Day two, refresh them for three minutes in a 350F oven. Day three, tear them up and make capirotada. Nothing wasted.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made the night before through the first rise, then punched down, covered tightly, and refrigerated overnight. Bring back to room temperature for 45 minutes before shaping and proceeding with the second rise.
• •Baked rolls keep in a paper bag at room temperature for two days. Do not refrigerate, the cold staling ruins the crumb. For longer storage, freeze fully cooled rolls in a sealed bag for up to a month and refresh in a 350F oven for five minutes.
• •The shaped rolls can also be frozen on the sheet pan before the second rise. Thaw covered at room temperature for two to three hours, then proof and bake as written.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 85g)