By ISABEL MENDOZA
Staff Writer
There are different types of Pan Dulce or sweet bread, but my absolute favorite is Concha Pan. Here’s a little recipe on how to make them! This is a recipe for 16 Conchas, measurements can always be downsized.
For the actual bread you’ll need:
-500 grams (3-¾ cups) of All-Purpose Flour, plus extra for dusting
-125 grams (½ cup + 2 teaspoons) white sugar
-7.5 grams (2-¼ teaspoon) instant dry yeast
-3 grams (½ teaspoon) salt
-100 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
-100 ml eggs (equals about 6-½ Tbps)
-5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
-120 ml (½ cup) warm milk
For the topping you’ll need:
-100 grams (½ cup plus 1 teaspoon extra to grease the dough and baking sheets) vegetable shortening
-100 grams (⅞ of a cup) Confectioner sugar
-120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
-5 grams (2-½ teaspoons) cocoa powder (for chocolate topping)
-5 grams cinnamon (for white topping)
Instructions:
1 . Mix the all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix well.
2. Once done mixing slowly pour in the milk little by little. Your dough should feel soft and elastic.
3. After you kneaded the dough, place a cover over it and set it aside for at least 2 hours to let it rise.
4. While the dough is rising you can make the sugar topping. Soften the shortening until it’s creamy and then add the confectioner’s sugar and flour little by little.
5. If using cinnamon or cocoa powder add it to the paste now.
6. Once the dough has risen, divide it into tiny balls, placing them into the greasing sheet.
7. Grease the top of the dough a little with the shortening.
8. Divide the topping into how many dough balls you made.
9. Just when making tortillas you want to flatten the paste down.
10. Once you’ve placed the disks on top of the dough you want to cut the top to decorate them with the traditional Concha shape.
11. Set them aside so they can rise for a little bit, if you let them rise too much they can then collapse inside of the oven.
12. Bake in a preheated oven at 325º for 20 minutes. Or until the bottom of the Conchas are a golden brown.
