Triángulos de Azúcar Yucatecos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy rolling pin
• •Bench scraper
• •Sharp chef's knife or pizza wheel
• •Two heavy rimmed sheet pans
• •Parchment paper
• •Pastry brush for the egg wash

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the détrempe

   In a wide bowl, whisk the four cups of flour with the salt and the two tablespoons of granulated sugar. Make a well in the center. Pour in the cold water, the vinegar, and the softened lard. Bring it together with your hands until you have a shaggy, slightly sticky dough. Turn it onto a lightly floured counter and knead for two minutes, no more. You want the dough to hold together, not to develop a strong gluten. The vinegar keeps the dough relaxed and the lard gives it the flavor that separates a Yucatecan pastry from a French one. La manteca es el sabor, even in dough.

   Cold water is not optional. Warm water starts the gluten too fast and the dough will fight you when you try to roll it out.
2. 2

   Rest the dough

   Shape the dough into a thick square, about six inches on a side. Score a deep cross on top with a sharp knife, almost halfway through. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. This is non-negotiable. The dough has to relax before it can be laminated, otherwise it tears and the butter breaks through.

3. 3

   Build the butter block

   While the dough rests, lay the cold butter sticks side by side on a sheet of parchment. Sprinkle the two tablespoons of flour over the top. Cover with a second sheet of parchment and pound the butter with a rolling pin, working it into a flat square about seven inches on a side. The flour gives the butter just enough body to roll without cracking. The block should be pliable but cold, like cold modeling clay. Refrigerate it while you wait for the dough.

4. 4

   Lock in the butter

   On a lightly floured counter, roll the rested dough into a cross shape, leaving a thick mound in the center the size of the butter block and four flat flaps extending outward. Place the butter block on the center mound. Fold the flaps over the butter one at a time so the butter is completely sealed inside, like a package. Press the seams gently to close them. There should be no butter visible.

5. 5

   First turn

   With the seam side down, roll the dough into a long rectangle, about eight by twenty inches. Work in one direction only, from the short end away from you. If the butter cracks through, dust the spot with flour and keep going. Fold the rectangle in thirds like a letter: bottom third up, top third down over it. That is your first turn. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

6. 6

   Second and third turns

   Place the dough on the counter with the closed seam to your right, like a book waiting to be opened. Roll out into a long rectangle again. Fold in thirds. That is the second turn. Wrap, refrigerate 30 minutes. Repeat one more time for the third turn. Three turns is the Yucatecan standard for these triangles. More turns and the layers get too thin to hold the sugar crown on top. After the third turn, refrigerate at least four hours, ideally overnight. The dough needs the long rest to relax completely before the final shaping.

   If at any point the butter feels soft or starts to leak, stop and refrigerate the dough for fifteen minutes before continuing. Warm butter is the enemy of lamination.
7. 7

   Shape the triangles

   Roll the rested dough on a lightly floured counter into a large rectangle, about sixteen by twenty inches and a quarter-inch thick. Trim the edges square with a sharp knife. Cut the rectangle into eight squares of four by five inches, then cut each square diagonally to make sixteen triangles. Transfer the triangles to two parchment-lined sheet pans, leaving two inches between them. They will spread and puff.

8. 8

   Egg wash and crown with sugar

   Brush each triangle generously with the egg wash, making sure to cover the whole top surface without letting the wash drip down the cut sides. Egg on the layers will glue them shut and the pastry will not rise. Now scatter the crystal sugar over the top of each triangle, generously, almost recklessly. The sugar crown is the dish. In Mérida the panaderías pile it on until the triangle disappears underneath. Do not be shy with it.

9. 9

   Rest before baking

   Refrigerate the shaped triangles for 30 minutes while you heat the oven to 400°F. This last cold rest sets the butter one more time so the layers explode upward in the oven instead of sliding sideways. Skipping this rest is the single most common mistake. No me vengas con atajos.

10. 10

    Bake until golden and crowned

    Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The triangles should rise dramatically, the layers fanning out at the cut sides, and the tops should turn deep golden brown. The sugar will not melt completely. It is supposed to stay in distinct crystals across the top, glittering, catching the light. That crunch under your teeth when you bite in is the whole point.

    If the sugar starts to brown too fast before the pastry cooks through, drop the oven to 375°F for the last five minutes. A pale triangle with burnt sugar is a failure on both ends.
11. 11

    Cool and eat the same day

    Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least ten minutes. The layers need that time to set, otherwise they collapse. Eat them within the day. These triangles are a panadería pastry, not a keepsake. Tomorrow morning the sugar softens and the layers go limp. So you eat them today, standing over the counter, with a cup of café yucateco. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use real manteca de cerdo, not vegetable shortening. The two tablespoons in the dough are small but they carry. Substitute shortening and you have a French-style hojaldre with no Yucatecan character.
• •The crystal sugar is the dish. Azúcar gruesa is what they use in Mérida, the same large-grain sugar sold in Mexican bulk markets. Turbinado works. Regular granulated sugar will melt and disappear into a glaze, which is not what you want. The crown should stay in distinct crystals.
• •Keep your kitchen cold. If you can run the AC down to 65°F while you laminate, do it. Warm butter ruins the layers and there is no recovering once it has melted into the dough.
• •These triangles do not freeze well baked. If you want to make ahead, freeze them unbaked, fully shaped and sugar-crowned, on the sheet pan. Bake from frozen, adding five minutes to the time.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be laminated through the third turn and held in the refrigerator overnight, up to 24 hours. The long rest improves the layers.
• •Shape and sugar the triangles, then freeze on a sheet pan until solid. Transfer to a bag and freeze up to one month. Bake from frozen, adding about five minutes to the baking time.
• •Once baked, these do not keep. Eat them the day they come out of the oven. Storing them overnight softens the sugar and the layers lose their crunch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 82g)