Rosquillas de Anís Yucatecas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two heavy rimmed baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Dry skillet for toasting the anise seed
• •Pastry brush for the egg wash

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake up the anise

   Place the two tablespoons of whole anise seed in a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Toast for two to three minutes, shaking the pan, until the seeds smell sweet and licorice-warm and just a shade darker. Pull them off the heat immediately. Burned anise turns bitter and ruins the whole batch. Let them cool on a plate. The seeds go into the dough whole. Do not grind them. The whole seed is the point of a rosquilla yucateca. You feel them between your teeth when you bite, you taste them when they crack against the hot chocolate.

   Buy anise seed from a mercado or a Mexican spice vendor, not from a grocery store jar that has been sitting on the shelf for a year. Old anise has no aroma left and you will get no flavor from it.
2. 2

   Whisk the dry ingredients

   In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and the toasted anise seed. Make sure the anise gets distributed throughout the flour, not clumped in one spot. The seeds are the signature. Every rosquilla should have them.

3. 3

   Work in the lard

   Add the room-temperature lard to the dry mixture. Work it in with your fingertips, pressing and rubbing until the flour looks like coarse damp sand. No big chunks of lard remaining. La manteca es el sabor and it is also the structure. Lard is what makes a rosquilla yucateca hard but not tough, with that clean snap when you break it. Butter will not give you the same texture. Vegetable shortening will not give you the same flavor. Use the lard.

4. 4

   Add the wet ingredients

   Beat the whole eggs and egg yolks together with the milk, vanilla, and orange zest. Pour into the flour mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms, then turn it out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for three to four minutes. The dough should be firm, smooth, and just barely tacky. If it sticks to your hands, sprinkle a little more flour. If it cracks, a teaspoon more milk. You are looking for a dough that feels like cool clay, not like bread dough.

5. 5

   Rest the dough

   Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. This step is not optional. Resting lets the flour fully hydrate and the anise oils start to perfume the dough. No me vengas con atajos. Skip the rest and you fight the dough when you shape it.

6. 6

   Heat the oven

   Heat the oven to 350F. Line two heavy baking sheets with parchment. Yucatán's home cooks bake these in wood-fired ovens that hold steady heat for hours, and you want a steady moderate oven, not a hot one. Too hot and the outside hardens before the inside dries. The rosquilla needs to dry through, not just brown.

7. 7

   Shape the rings

   Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a small lime, roughly one ounce each. Roll each piece between your palms into a rope about six inches long and as thick as your index finger. Bring the ends together and press to seal, forming a ring the size of a small saucer. Place on the lined baking sheets, leaving an inch between each ring. They do not spread much. The shape matters because the ring is built to dunk: you hold the bottom curve, you sink the top curve into the chocolate.

   Press the seam firmly. A rosquilla that opens up in the oven looks like a comma instead of a ring. The señoras in Mérida pinch and roll the seam smooth so you cannot see where it closed.
8. 8

   Brush and finish

   Brush each ring with the egg wash. Mix the finishing sugar with the teaspoon of whole anise seed and sprinkle lightly over the tops. The egg wash gives them that mahogany gloss the Yucatecan panaderías are known for. The extra anise on top makes the perfume hit you before the first bite.

9. 9

   Bake until dry through

   Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. The rosquillas are ready when they are deep golden on top, firm to the touch, and feel light when you lift one. If you tap one and it sounds hollow, it is done. If it still feels heavy or soft in the middle, give them another five minutes. They should be hard, not chewy. Hard is the point. A soft rosquilla turns to mush the second it touches hot chocolate.

10. 10

    Cool completely

    Transfer the rosquillas to a wire rack and let them cool completely, at least one hour. They harden further as they cool. Do not store them warm. Warm storage traps moisture and softens them, and a soft rosquilla yucateca is a failed rosquilla yucateca. Once fully cool, they keep in an airtight tin for two to three weeks. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Anise seed loses its perfume within months of harvest. If you open the jar and it does not smell sharply of licorice, do not use it. Find a vendor with turnover. A mercado spice stall is almost always fresher than a supermarket jar.
• •Lard is non-negotiable. Find real rendered pork lard, not the hydrogenated shelf-stable bricks. A Mexican carnicería will sell it to you in tubs. If you can render your own from pork fatback, even better. La manteca es el sabor.
• •Hard means dry through, not burned. The color should be deep gold, not brown. If the tops are dark before the centers are dry, lower your oven temperature by twenty-five degrees and bake longer.
• •Store them in a tin with a tight lid at room temperature. Do not refrigerate. The fridge introduces moisture and the rosquilla goes from hard to stale. In Yucatán they keep them in metal tins for weeks at a time.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made one day ahead and refrigerated wrapped in plastic. Bring it back to room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.
• •Baked rosquillas keep in an airtight tin at room temperature for two to three weeks. They actually improve after the first day as the anise perfume settles into the dough.
• •They freeze well in an airtight bag for up to three months. Thaw at room temperature; do not microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 40g)