Spain·Balearic Islands (Majorca)
Ensaimada
Mallorcan spiral pastry
Mallorcan sweet bun of very thin dough rolled into a spiral with lard, baked golden and dusted with icing sugar.
- Preparation
- 1 h
- Cooking
- 20 min
- Total time
- 1 h 20 min
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Servings
- 6
Fermentation: 10 h (not included in the total)
Ingredients
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Preparation
Tips
- The key is to stretch the dough until almost transparent; this creates the thin layers when baking.
- Pork lard (saïm) is the ingredient that defines the traditional ensaimada; with butter the result is different.
- Respect the long fermentation time: it gives the characteristic lightness, more than the exact temperature.
- It keeps best wrapped in paper; to transport it, use a flat box so the spiral does not break.
Variations
- Plain (lisa) ensaimada, the most traditional, without filling.
- Filled with cabello de ángel (pumpkin preserve), pastry cream or chocolate, among others.
- Tallades: a savoury variant with pieces of sobrasada.
Story of the recipe
Ensaimada: where it comes from.
The ensaimada is Mallorca's best-known sweet. Its name comes from the Catalan "saïm", the pork lard spread over the dough that gives it its flaky, airy texture. It is made with flour, water, sugar, eggs, sourdough or yeast and that lard, with a long fermentation.
Since 2003 it has had Protected Geographical Indication status, covering both the traditional plain version and the one filled with cabello de ángel. It is eaten at breakfast or as an afternoon snack, sometimes dunked in chocolate or milky coffee, and the large ones are kept for celebrations. Historical details about its origin could not be confirmed in the sources consulted.
Sources
By RecetarioMundo.