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–+ servings
Fine textured, soft and lightly sweet, ensaymada is a Filipino style brioche that makes perfect snacks. They can be easily reheated to enjoy any time of day. This recipe is really easy and most time is spent waiting for the dough to rise. The results are really worth the time, though. It yields a batch of ensaymada dough that can produce up to 14 long pieces of ensaymada. You can freeze half of the risen dough for up to a month, thaw it in the fridge overnight and shape to bake.
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Ensaymada

A Filipino style brioche that is made special with toppings of butter, sugar and sometimes, grated cheese.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 14 pieces
Calories 291kcal
Author sanna

Ingredients

FIRST PART: THE SPONGE

  • 1/3 cup warm milk (temperature should be 110 F)
  • 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cups all purpose flour

SECOND PART: THE DOUGH

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (6 oz) room temperature

FOR THE EGG WASH

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp cold water

FOR THE TOPPING

  • softened butter unsalted, for brushing the top
  • granulated sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

MAKE THE SPONGE

  • In the bowl of heavy duty mixer, Add the yeast, milk, egg and 1 cup all purpose flour. Mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of flour over the top as if to cover mixture. Let this stand for about 40-45 minutes. There will be cracks on the flour surface at this point.

MAKE THE DOUGH

  • Add the sugar, salt, eggs and 1 cup of flour to the bowl with the yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, run the heavy duty mixer on low speed for about a minute , until the mixture is just about incorporated. Add the remaining half cup of flour and run the mixer in medium speed. Continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed, for about 15-20 minutes. You will know when the dough is ready if it is coming together in the center of the bowl, and also attaching itself into the dough hook. You should see the dough slapping the sides of the bowl, like it is almost violently throwing itself to the sides white it still clinging and rotating with the dough hook. You should also hear the slapping sounds. ( If you don't see the slapping action after ten minutes into the mixing , sprinkle about 2 -3 tbsp of flour to the bowl. Continue to beat until you reach the slapping stage , giving the dough a total of about 15-20 minutes in the mixer ).
  • Now add the butter bit by bit. Make sure that the butter is in in room temperature, but not warm or oily. It should be pretty soft and malleable. It helps to enclose the butter inside a wax paper, press it down using your thumb or beat it with a rolling pin to give it a malleable consistency. When you add the butter, the dough will fall apart again for a moment. Continue to beat until you hear the slapping sounds again. This should take about 5 minutes or so. The dough is now , once again, clinging together in the center and in the dough hook with the slapping sound. Dough is sticky but shiny at this point.

FIRST RISE:

  • Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. Let stand in room temperature until the size is doubled, about 2 hours.

SECOND RISE:

  • After the dough has doubled in size. Simply lift it in sections until you have gone around the entire circle of dough, lifting and then letting it fall back to the bowl ( like deflating it but very gently. Do not punch the dough down.) Cover the bowl again with a plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. The dough will double in size again.

ASSEMBLE AND BAKE

  • After chilling, divide the dough in half. Double wrap the other half with plastic wrap and then with foil. Freeze for up to a month *( Skip this if you plan on using the entire amount of dough and yield 14 pieces of ensaymada. Work with half a dough at a time.) Divide the dough into 14 equal portions. Roll each portion into a log that is about 4-5 inches long. Take two of the logs, twist them together to form spirals and seal the two ends by pinching the logs closed. Place the spirals in a large baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining logs. You should have 7 spiral logs in total. Cover the assembled dough with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 and 1/2 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Make the glaze by lightly beating one egg with 1 tablespoon of cold water. Using a pastry brush, brush the top surface of the ensaymada dough with the egg glaze. This will give the ensaymada a nice golden look.  Bake the ensaymada for 15 minutes or until very lightly golden. Be sure not to overbake or you will end up with a dry, tough ensaymada. I strongly recommend inserting a thermometer into the center of ensaymada. Once it reads 200 F, it is done. Let ensaymada cool slightly then brush the tops with softened butter or margarine. Sprinkle with sugar.

Notes

You can also be as creative as you want by adding grated cheese and other toppings like ube spread, yema or dulce de leche. Store in tightly covered containers at room temperature. Microwave them prior to eating for about 8 -10 seconds
Recipe adapted From Nancy Silverton, from book Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 88mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 490IU | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1.8mg