Repollitas Yucatecas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or a wide bowl and a strong arm
• •Two heavy sheet pans
• •Parchment paper
• •Large piping bag with a 1/2-inch plain round tip
• •Smaller piping bag with a 1/4-inch tip for the cream
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Fine-mesh strainer for dusting

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven and prepare the trays

   Set two racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions of the oven. Heat the oven to 400F (200C). Line two heavy sheet pans with parchment paper. No greasing. The parchment is enough.

   If your oven runs hot, drop to 390F. Pate a choux is unforgiving about heat. Too hot and the shells crack open. Too cool and they collapse.
2. 2

   Build the panada

   Combine the milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally. The moment the butter melts completely and the liquid begins to simmer at a steady roll, dump in the flour all at once. Pull off the heat and beat hard with a wooden spoon until the flour is fully absorbed and the mass pulls into a single ball.

3. 3

   Dry the dough

   Return the pan to medium-low heat. Keep beating and pressing the dough against the bottom of the pan for two to three minutes. You will see a thin film of cooked dough form on the bottom of the pan. That film is the signal. You are cooking out moisture so the eggs can do their work later. Skip this step and your repollitas will be heavy and dense.

   Use a non-stick or seasoned pan if you can. The film should be a light coat, not a burned crust. If the dough starts to brown, you have gone too far.
4. 4

   Cool the dough briefly

   Transfer the hot dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or to a wide mixing bowl. Beat on low for two minutes to release the worst of the heat. The dough should be warm to the touch but not hot. If it is too hot when you add the eggs, you will scramble them.

5. 5

   Beat in the eggs

   Add the eggs one at a time, beating fully between each addition. The dough will look broken and slick after each egg. Keep beating. It comes back together every time. After the fourth egg, the dough should be smooth, glossy, and fall from the paddle in a thick ribbon that holds a soft V-shape when you lift it. That ribbon is what you want. If it is too stiff, beat in another half egg. If it runs off the paddle, you have gone too far and the next batch will fix it.

6. 6

   Pipe the repollitas

   Fit a large piping bag with a 1/2-inch plain round tip. Fill the bag with the warm dough. Pipe mounds about 1 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch tall onto the parchment, spacing them two inches apart. They will double. Each mound should look like a little cabbage, hence the name. Wet your fingertip with cold water and press down any peaks gently. Peaks burn before the rest is set.

   If you have no piping bag, use two spoons. Less precise, no less valid. The dona who taught me this recipe in the Lucas de Galvez market in Merida used a soup spoon and her thumb.
7. 7

   Egg wash and bake

   Whisk the extra yolk with the tablespoon of milk. Brush the top of each mound lightly. This gives the repollitas their honey-gold color. Slide both trays into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F without opening the door. Drop the temperature to 350F (175C) and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the shells are deep golden brown and feel hollow and dry when you tap one. If you open the door during the rise, they collapse. So no me vengas con atajos. Trust the timing.

8. 8

   Vent and cool

   Pull the trays out. Using a small paring knife or a wooden skewer, pierce a small hole in the side of each repollita to let the trapped steam escape. This is how you keep the interior from going soggy. Return the trays to the turned-off oven with the door cracked open for ten more minutes. Then transfer the shells to a wire rack to cool completely. They must be fully cool before you fill them.

9. 9

   Whip the cream

   In a chilled bowl, combine the cold heavy cream, the 1/3 cup of powdered sugar, and the Mexican vanilla. Whip on medium-high until the cream holds stiff peaks but still looks glossy, not grainy. The Papantla vanilla is the soul of this filling. Papantla in Veracruz is the birthplace of cultivated vanilla. The Totonaca people domesticated this orchid before any European set foot in Mexico. Use real vanilla. Imitation has no place here.

10. 10

    Fill the repollitas

    Fit a clean piping bag with a small plain tip, about 1/4 inch. Fill with the whipped cream. Insert the tip into the bottom or side of each cooled shell through the hole you already made. Squeeze gently until the shell feels heavy in your hand. Do not overfill or the shell will split. Some Yucateca cooks halve the shells with a serrated knife and spoon the cream in like little sandwiches. Either way is correct. Cada cocinera, su propia mano.

11. 11

    Dust and serve

    Arrange the filled repollitas on a serving platter, piled like the cabbages they are named for. Dust generously with the remaining powdered sugar through a fine-mesh strainer. Serve within the hour. The crisp shell starts to soften the moment the cream goes in. This is a dessert that does not wait. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Mexican vanilla from Papantla is the right vanilla here. Not Madagascar, not Tahitian. Papantla. It is the original vanilla and it carries a slightly smoky, almost tobacco-like depth that pairs with the eggy choux in a way no other vanilla does. If you cannot find it at a Mexican market, order it. It matters.
• •The dough has to be dry enough. The single most common mistake with pate a choux is not cooking out enough moisture in step 3. If the panada looks wet and shiny rather than matte with a film on the pan, keep going. Two extra minutes there will save the whole tray.
• •Repollitas wait for nobody. Fill them within the hour you plan to serve them. If you need to make ahead, bake the shells in the morning, store them in an airtight container at room temperature, and refresh them in a 300F oven for three minutes before filling. The whipped cream can be whipped two hours ahead and held in the refrigerator.

Advance Preparation

• •The choux shells can be baked one day ahead. Store unfilled in an airtight container at room temperature. Refresh in a 300F oven for three minutes before filling to crisp them back up.
• •Unfilled shells freeze well for up to a month. Bring back to crisp in a 350F oven for five minutes from frozen.
• •The whipped cream can be made up to two hours ahead and held in the refrigerator. Whip it slightly under stiff peaks if holding, since it will firm up as it sits.
• •Filled repollitas do not hold. Once filled, serve within the hour or the shell turns soft.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 41g)