Mexican sweet bread is a delightful treat for anytime of day. It's often served as a breakfast bread, as a dessert after a large meal or along side a cup of coffee as an evening snack. Found in traditional Mexican bakeries, set aside a cold or rainy afternoon and make this traditional treat at home.
Instructions
1. Mix the basic ingredients of yeast, water, evaporated milk, white sugar, salt, butter and egg, flour and cinnamon together. Some recipes substitute shortening for the butter and use powdered milk or no milk at all. After allowing the yeast to sit for a few minutes, mix in a small amount of flour either by hand or with an electric mixer as directed by the recipe.
2. Add the remaining flour slowly. Regardless of which recipe you use, all direction state to add flour in small portions for the best Mexican sweet bread results.
3. Decide to knead the Mexican sweet bread dough or not. This is more of a trial and error venture and varies greatly from recipe to recipe. Some say to knead for upwards of 8 minutes while others stress not kneading the dough at all, only lightly turning the dough over until you coat it with flour.
4. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area for 20 minutes to an hour. Although the time will vary with the recipe, this step is standard in all of them.
5. Make the topping using sugar, butter and flour, flavored with cinnamon or vanilla. Some recipes substitute shortening for the butter and others add food coloring, which gives the Mexican sweet bread it's distinctive pastel color. Either way, the mixture should be crumbly.
6. Cut the risen dough into equal parts and roll into balls, about the size of large cookies. Pat them flat and place spoonfuls of the topping mixture on each one. Choose to cool-rise the bread by covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for up to 24 hours. A warm rise only takes about 45 minutes, and afterwards the bread is ready for baking.
7. Scratch lines in the tops of the bread using a knife. Some recipes say the topping cracks on its own while baking, but others prefer making lines so the bread resembles shells. Bake the bread until it's light golden brown and enjoy.
Tags: Mexican sweet, Mexican sweet bread, Some recipes, butter flour, recipes substitute, recipes substitute shortening