ensaymadas!

well, that was an adventure!

in pursuit of some sweet cheddar tarts i remember having years ago at a bakery that no longer makes them, i stumbled across ensaymada - a filipino sweet cheesey bun. different creature, but boy they sounded good.

at some point i was talking to a friend - who is filipino - who was reminiscing about filipino food, and i mentioned my desire to try ensaymadas, and she said, let's make them! so, after a certain amount of scheduling silliness, we set a date. today.

we had our recipe. it would take a lot of time - two rises - so i said i'd get started before she got here. no worries.

actually, yes worries.

one of the ingredients was powdered milk, which i didn't have. um. i used some cream instead.

next, there was the matter of flour. the recipe only asked for 1 1/4 cups of flour. didn't seem nearly enough, but what do i know? maybe that's why they're so soft and rich? maybe it would come together during that first rise?

nope. soup it was, and soup in remained. i searched online, and found other recipes, with much more flour for the same amount of liquid - 3 cups, 4 cups, as much as 6 1/2 cups! eek.

my friend arrived. i told her the story. we thought a minute, and then just added more flour, keeping track of how much we added. as it turns out, we used three whole cups! i've heard of typos, but that is crazy.

the directions left a lot to be desired too, so i rewrote them entirely in order to be able to follow them.

but! after all that! so very yummy, so very good. rich, tender, cheesey, sugary goodness. so very, very good.

and so: here is the recipe, corrected and working! whee!

ensaymada

dough:
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup hot water
1 tbs honey
1 1/2 tbs yeast
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded cheese
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft butter

topping:
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sugar (approx)
1/2 cup shredded cheese

dough:

combine cream and hot water in a large bowl, stir in honey till dissolved. stir in yeast.

add flour, salt, and cheese, stir to combine.

mix in eggs, melted butter, and sugar. stir well with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes.

cover and leave to double, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

punch down.

take a heaping spoonful of dough and flatten out on a floured board. spread with soft butter, and roll up jelly-roll style. roll this into a rope just long enough to tie in a knot, and place in greased 9" x 13" baking dish.

repeat with remaining dough. you should have 12 buns.

allow to double in bulk - a few hours in a warm place, or overnight in the fridge.

bake at 350 f for 20 minutes. turn out onto rack to cool.

topping:

whip butter until pale and fluffy. spread tops of buns with butter, then sprinkle sugar over and top with shredded cheese.