Pan Dulce

So this recipe is a work in processes I’ve been wanting to make Pan Dulce for a long time now ( for those who do not know what pan dulce is its a Mexican sweet bread with a cookie shell on top.)

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup luke water
• 3 1/2  cup of water
• 4 eggs, beaten and room temperature

Preparations:

Mix 1 table spoon of sugar and yeast into lukewarm water. let it sit for 10 mins.

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Slowly add in eggs, salt, and yeast mixture. Add flour in 1 cup at a time until incorporated. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 mins.

Divide dough into 16 pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet with plenty of space between each ball. Press each ball slightly to flatten it. let dough rise for a hour. After the dough is on its way to rising make topping.

Topping ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of shortening
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional: food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. With you’re hands, divided the topping into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and roll it out on a floured surface. Until its large enough to cover each dough. About 5 inches in diameter. Lightly press topping onto dough and use a knife to cut a pattern into the topping, but not into the dough.

After you add topping bake at 350 for about 15 mins or until lightly golden.

I still want to work on this recipe so if y’all do decide to make it I would love your opinion on it ^^

Also since it doesn’t have preservatives it will only keep for two to three days.

Enjoy~

~Kat~

This post was written by:

KAT VERA - (view all posts by Kat)
Kat is a lead pastry chef. When she isn’t in the kitchen she’s traveling space and time with Doctor Who and solving mysteries with Sherlock. Email her at kat@mind-speaks.com

Bear Claws!!

You don’t  have to head to a gourmet bakeries to indulge in this sweet pastry. This recipe is very easy and you can fill it with whatever your taste buds are craving!!  Mine were craving apples :9

For this simple recipe the ingredients you will need are:

1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast                                                  
1/2 cup warm milk
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Butter mixture:
2 tablespoon all purpose flour
3/4 cup cold butter , cut into tablespoon sizes pieces
 

1. In a large bowl mixing bowl , dissolve yeast in warm milk. (make sure its not hot!! It will kill the yeast if its to hot) Stir in the sugar, salt, and egg; mix well. Add the flour all at once, stirring until mixed. set aside.

2. For butter mixture, (for this part I place the butter in between two parchment paper so it wouldn’t stick to the counter plus its better to do this while the butter is cold) chop the the butter in to pieces get a rolling pin and beat the butter until you get a small odd looking rectangle.

3. Next  roll the dough out into a rectangle, place the butter 1 inch above bottom edge and fold the sides over and pinch edges to seal.  Turn the dough and lightly roll into a rectangle. Fold third of the rectangle  and lightly roll in to a rectangle; repeat this three more times.  Then refrigerate for 30 mins.

4. Meanwhile start the filling; chop two apples into small pieces and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (taste to see if its sweet enough.) then strain it.

5. Roll out the dough into a 12inch square; cut the square into three strips. Spread the filling down the middle of each strip and fold in the sides length wise and pinch closes. Cut each strip into three pieces. Cut  four 1 inch down each strip to make the bear claw shape.

6.  Place on a greased baking sheet about an inch or two apart. Curve folded side slightly  to separate  stripes and allow  the filling to show. Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour.

7. Brush with egg. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-14 minutes or until puffy and golden. Remove to pan to wire rack. To make glazes combine 3/4 cup powder sugar with 2 to 3 teaspoons of water; brush over warm rolls. cool. (I sadly didn’t have powder sugar so I had to go without it, there were still delicious though )

This post was written by:

KAT VERA - (view all posts by Kat)
Kat is a lead pastry chef. When she isn’t in the kitchen she’s traveling space and time with Doctor Who and solving mysteries with Sherlock. Email her at kat@mind-speaks.com

Pie Pops!!!

So my lovely sister Mija got engaged some time ago and  her boss was nice enough to throw her an engagement party!! So to show how much I love her I offered to do the desserts and I decided to make apple and pumpkin pie pops! (If y’all do not know what pie pops are there basically miniature pies on a stick)*Note: I made two different version one I made with empanada (Mexican pastry)dough and the ones I made for the actual party were made out of  pie crust cause Empanada dough bloated to much which it did not fit in the little baggies but both versions are delicious . But in this I will be using the empanada version but you may substitute it for normal pie dough. So lets get started !! ^^

Ingredients you will need:

First preheat oven to 350 then prepare the Pumpkin filling;  mix all the ingredients together and set aside.  At this point you can use a normal pie crust recipe or the empanada one.  When doing the crust soak the dry yeast in water first then add the sugar and salt, mix and add the baking powder, cinnamon, and 1 cup of flour gradually mix in more flour until it forms a dough.

Once you’ve done that let it set for 5 mins in the fridge ( so it will be more easier to roll out) once that’s done  roll out the dough until its 1/2 thick and use a dough nut cutter (or whatever you want your the shape of you pie to be) I just cut them into squares.

Next is the filling process  now with this you want to be care full  if you want your pies to be mini you must only put a little bit of filling so they wont over flow and get messy. (Now you can have normal pies or you can put the sticks in. when doing so make sure you put it in all the way and let them cool before you move them so they wont fall out.) Bake for 15 to 20 mins it depends of the size and shape of the pie so make sure to keep a eye on it.

Now for the  Apple pie filling. First dice up the peeled apples make sure you cut them up small or at least small enough to fit in your dough. Place the apples in a bowl and add lemon juice and mix 1/2 sugar  with a few dashes of cinnamon (Note: make sure to taste the mixture to see its sweet enough) Now strain the apples so we wont get those extra juices just to make sure the mini pies do not over flow. mix the rest of the sugar, Cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, cornstarch in a separate bowl.

Now time for assembling the apple filling; as its show in the demonstration above first get the get the dough place (the stick at this point) the apples then sprinkle the flour mixture followed but dotting it with butter then close it with the top half.  You can top both pies with Cinnamon sugar to give it a little more sweetness and color. Crump the edges with a fork so the filling does not come out and bake.

~ Now the finishing produce should look like this!!!  I hope you like this recipe and if you should make them I would love to see pictures!! ^^

This post was written by:

KAT VERA - (view all posts by Kat)
Kat is a lead pastry chef. When she isn’t in the kitchen she’s traveling space and time with Doctor Who and solving mysteries with Sherlock. Email her at kat@mind-speaks.com