Tutis Yucatecos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook, or strong arms and a bowl
• •Heavy rolling pin
• •Bench scraper
• •Two parchment-lined sheet pans
• •Pastry brush for egg wash
• •Sharp knife or pizza wheel for cutting the dough

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the eggs, warm milk, and softened manteca. Mix on low with a dough hook for two minutes to bring it together, then medium for six to eight minutes, until the dough is smooth and pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl. The manteca is doing two jobs here. It softens the crumb and it carries the flavor that makes this dough taste like Yucatán and not like a French croissant. La manteca es el sabor.

2. 2

   First rest

   Shape the dough into a tight ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rest at room temperature for one hour, or until it has nearly doubled. In Mérida the heat does this fast. In a cool kitchen it takes longer. Watch the dough, not the clock.

   If your kitchen runs cold, put the bowl in the oven with only the light on. That gentle warmth is enough to wake the yeast without cooking it.
3. 3

   Prepare the butter block

   While the dough rests, place the cold butter between two sheets of parchment. Pound it with a rolling pin until pliable but still cold, then shape it into a flat 6-inch square about a half inch thick. Refrigerate until firm again but not hard, about 15 minutes. The butter needs to bend with the dough, not snap. If it cracks when you fold it, it is too cold. If it smears, it is too warm. Find the middle.

4. 4

   Encase the butter

   Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a square roughly 10 inches across. Place the butter block in the center on a 45-degree angle so it sits like a diamond inside the dough square. Fold the four corners of dough over the butter to meet in the middle, sealing the seams by pinching. The butter should be fully wrapped, like a sealed envelope. No me vengas con atajos. Skip this step or rush it and the layers will not form.

5. 5

   First fold

   With the seam side down, roll the dough into a long rectangle about 8 by 18 inches, working in one direction only. Keep the edges as square as you can. Fold the rectangle in thirds like a business letter: the bottom third up over the middle, the top third down over both. Wrap the packet in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This is your first turn.

6. 6

   Second and third folds

   Take the dough out, rotate it 90 degrees so the open seam faces you, and roll it again into the same 8 by 18 rectangle. Fold in thirds, wrap, and refrigerate another 30 minutes. Repeat for a third and final turn. Three turns gives you 27 layers of butter inside the dough. That is what makes the crust shatter clean when you bite it, what carries the salty-sweet contrast against the cheese inside.

7. 7

   Shape the tutis

   After the third rest, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 14 by 18 inches and a quarter inch thick. Cut into 12 equal squares of about 4 1/2 inches each. Place a cube of queso de bola in the center of each square. Bring the four corners up over the cheese and pinch them firmly together at the top, then pinch the seams down the sides so the cheese is fully sealed inside a round packet. Place each one seam side down on a parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving space between them.

   Seal the seams with conviction. Queso de bola melts into a liquid in the oven and any open seam will let it leak out. A tuti that leaks its cheese is just a piece of bread.
8. 8

   Final proof

   Cover the shaped tutis loosely with a damp cloth and let them proof at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour. They should look puffed and feel pillowy when you press them gently. Underproofed tutis will be dense. Overproofed ones will collapse in the oven. The press test: when you poke the dough gently with a fingertip, the indentation should fill back in slowly, not snap back, not stay sunken.

9. 9

   Egg wash and sugar

   Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Brush the top of each tuti generously with the egg wash. Sprinkle the sugar liberally over the wet surface. The sugar should sit thick on top, not in a polite dusting. That sugar caramelizes in the oven and creates the crunchy, slightly salty-sweet crust that defines a Yucatecan tuti. Mérida's panaderias do not stint on the sugar and neither should you.

10. 10

    Bake

    Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are a deep golden brown, the sugar has crystallized into a crackling crust, and a little cheese is just visible bubbling through a seam or two. The smell will tell you when they are close: caramelized sugar, butter, and the unmistakable sharpness of melted queso de bola. Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving them. The cheese inside is molten and needs a moment to settle. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use real queso de bola. The red wax-coated rounds are sold in any decent Mexican grocery and increasingly in international cheese sections under 'Edam.' Mozzarella will melt out and taste of nothing. Monterey Jack is bland. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Keep the dough cold between turns. If the kitchen is warm and the butter starts to weep through the dough, return the packet to the refrigerator for an extra 15 minutes. A warm laminated dough is a dough with one layer, not 27.
• •Tutis are at their best the morning they are baked. The crust softens by the second day and the cheese firms up. If you must hold them, warm them in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes to bring back the crust and re-melt the cheese.
• •The manteca in the base dough is not optional. Yucatecan pan dulce carries a flavor profile shaped by lard, and substituting more butter throughout will give you a French-tasting pastry, not a Mérida one.

Advance Preparation

• •The laminated dough can be made through the third turn one day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Roll, shape, proof, and bake the next morning.
• •Shaped, unbaked tutis can be frozen on a sheet pan, then transferred to a freezer bag. To bake, place frozen tutis on a parchment-lined pan, let them thaw and proof for 2 to 3 hours, then egg wash, sugar, and bake as directed.
• •Baked tutis can be wrapped and held at room temperature for one day. Reheat at 300°F for 5 minutes to revive the crust and remelt the cheese.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)