Pan de Panela Veracruzano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan for dissolving panela
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dough hook
• •Two 8 by 4 inch loaf pans or one heavy sheet pan
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Make panela infusion

   Put the chopped panela, water, canela stick, and crushed anise seed in a small heavy saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring until the panela dissolves completely. Let it simmer for 3 minutes, then take it off the heat. Strain out the canela and anise. You need 1 cup of panela infusion. If you are short, add a spoonful of water. If you have extra, keep it for brushing the bread.

2. 2

   Cool and wake yeast

   Let the panela infusion cool until it is warm to the touch, about 95F to 100F. Hotter than that and you can kill the yeast. Stir the yeast into the lukewarm milk with 1 tablespoon of the panela infusion. Wait 8 to 10 minutes, until the surface looks foamy. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead. Do not build a bread on dead yeast.

   Panela is heavy food for yeast. The milk wakes it gently before the richer syrup goes in. That is why this bread rises clean instead of sitting like a brick.
3. 3

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and orange zest. Add the foamy yeast mixture, the egg, and all but 2 tablespoons of the remaining panela infusion. Save those 2 tablespoons for the finish. Mix with your hand or a wooden spoon until you have a rough brown dough with no dry pockets.

4. 4

   Work in lard

   Add the softened manteca de cerdo in small pieces and knead it into the dough. At first the dough will look greasy and stubborn. Keep working. After 8 to 10 minutes by hand, or 5 to 6 minutes with a dough hook, it should turn smooth, elastic, and tacky. Do not keep throwing flour at it. Panela bread is supposed to have weight.

5. 5

   Let it rise

   Grease a clean bowl with a little lard. Set the dough inside, turn it once to coat, and cover. Let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until puffed and almost doubled. In a humid Veracruz kitchen this can move faster. In a cold kitchen it takes longer. The dough decides, not your impatience.

6. 6

   Shape the loaves

   Grease two 8 by 4 inch loaf pans or a heavy sheet pan with lard. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in two. Shape each piece into a tight oval loaf by folding the edges toward the center, turning it seam side down, and tucking with your hands until the surface has tension. Place in the pans or on the sheet pan.

7. 7

   Proof and brush

   Cover the shaped loaves and let them proof for 45 to 60 minutes, until they look swollen and a finger pressed gently into the side leaves a slow mark. Heat the oven to 350F. Brush the tops with the 2 tablespoons of whole milk. This gives the crust a clean brown finish before the panela glaze goes on.

8. 8

   Bake the bread

   Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating once, until the loaves are deep brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. The center should read about 190F if you use a thermometer. Panela darkens faster than white sugar, so if the tops brown too quickly after 20 minutes, cover them loosely with foil.

9. 9

   Glaze and rest

   Brush the hot loaves with the reserved panela infusion. Let them sit in the pans for 10 minutes, then move them to a rack. Wait at least 30 minutes before slicing. Cut too soon and you crush the crumb you worked for. Serve thick slices with cafe lechero. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy panela or piloncillo at a Mexican market, not a supermarket baking aisle. The good blocks smell like cane, caramel, and wet earth. Brown sugar is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Use fresh pork lard from a butcher or a Mexican market. The hydrogenated white brick tastes flat and leaves a waxy finish. La manteca es el sabor, but only when the manteca is good.
• •Do not make this bread fluffy like a concha. Pan de panela should be dense, dark, and sliceable. If it feels like sandwich bread, you made another bread.
• •Veracruz humidity changes dough. Add flour one tablespoon at a time only if the dough is impossible to handle. A tacky dough bakes softer than a dry one.
• •If you bake in a horno de lena, bake after the fierce heat has settled, around the heat you would use for enriched bread, not pizza heat. The panela crust burns before the center is done if the oven is too aggressive.
• •This is not Veracruz hojaldra and not Veracruz cemita. Hojaldra is a sweet Day-of-the-Dead bread with ajonjoli. Veracruz cemita is a sweet wheat roll with piloncillo and nuts, not the Puebla sesame sandwich roll. Names matter.

Advance Preparation

• •The panela infusion can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before using so the dough does not start cold.
• •After the first rise, shape the loaves, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight. Let them sit at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes before baking.
• •The baked bread keeps wrapped at room temperature for 3 days. Toast older slices on a comal and eat them with cafe lechero or a smear of frijoles refritos if you know how to live.
• •Slices freeze well for up to 2 months. Wrap tightly and rewarm on a comal or in a low oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 98g)