Bridezilla Bakes

The last installment of our series on Puerto Rican food from my friend Courtney in Puerto Rico!

Here in Puerto Rico the most common sweet bread is called Mallorca, a sweet light pastry in the shape of a little round coil.  You can find this pastry pretty much anywhere here, but one of the places most famous for its mallorca is called La Bombonera.  It has been open since 1902 and serves delicious mallorca and café con leche (coffee with milk) along with other traditional Puerto Rican dishes.  It’s been serving Puerto Rico for over 100 years amigos, so you know it’s got to be good!  After passing the front window display filled with all the yummy pastries they offer, you go inside and see a long bar with old red cushioned bar chairs and behind the bar is their huge stainless steel espresso machine that is the same one they have been using since the restaurant opened.  The place is always filled with both locals on their lunch breaks and sun burnt tourists trying out Puerto Rican food for the first time.  It’s a fun place to be and the wait staff is always very friendly and super speedy.

One of the favorite items to order at La Bombonera is their mallorca with a café con leche in the morning, or a mallorca panini, that they make by slicing open the mallorca and putting cheese and ham inside and grilling it in a panini press and sprinkling it with powdered sugar.  This little sandwich isn’t even on the menu, I found out about it talking to a guy who used to work there, and he said that it was one of their most popular items!  So I went to try it out and I asked my waiter, a little old man in his late 70’s who I imagine has been working at La Bombonera his whole life, for this sandwich.  I also asked if he could put tomato and lettuce on it, which I thought was a reasonable request, but turned out not to be.  I got a lecture from the waiter about how if I put lettuce and tomato on the sandwich it will make the bread soggy and totally throw off the flavor of the sandwich.

I asked again, just to make sure he was serious, I mean, what’s the big deal about putting some lettuce and tomato on it?!  But my waiter was determined and he told me no again, that he would not put lettuce and tomato on it, and to trust him, that it was better without it.  I was a little thrown off by the fact that this man would not let me order my panini how I wanted, but I figured he probably knew best, and he did!

The lesson I learned that day was that some things are just better left how they are. I mean that sandwich has been being made simply with ham and cheese for 100 years, what was I thinking trying to put lettuce and tomato on it!?  I also learned to never mess with that little old waiter again, he is tough!  But all jokes aside, this little sandwich was amazing.  It is so simple but the mesh of flavors makes it something special.   The savory flavor of the ham and cheese in between the sweet bread, all warm with powdered sugar on top, is delicious.

So in order to recreate this recipe I decided to make mallorca, which was a little daunting.  This is a yeast bread, and the only bread on my repertoire is banana bread.  It takes a long time to make, you have to let the dough rise three times 45 minutes to an hour each time and my kitchen was a complete mess afterwards, but it was a success!  The bread didn’t exactly hold the coil shape, but what matters most to me is the taste, not the shape of my mallorca.  I got this recipe from The Noshery and the pictured steps gave me assurance along the way that my dough looked how it was supposed to.  After the mallorca had baked I let it cool a bit and then made it into a sandwich by adding cheese and turkey lunch meat and grilling it on the stovetop, using a heavy plate to smash it down.  I would recommend putting the little sandwich upside down in the pan, since that way you won’t cook the bottom even more and burn it.  Once your cheese is melted, sprinkle some more powdered sugar on it and enjoy!  ¡Buen Provecho!

Mallorca

• 1 package of dry yeast
• ¾ cups sugar
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 6 egg yolks
• ½ lb melted butter cooled to room temperature

In a large mixing bowl pour in the lukewarm milk and water and sprinkle in the yeast.  Gently mix in 1 cup of the flour and set it aside to let it rise for about 45 minutes until the mixture starts to rise.

Beat the egg yolks into the mixture making sure to blend it very well.  Add the remaining flour little by little until well incorporated.  Then add ½ of the melted butter and set it aside until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Dust the area you will be working on to prevent the dough from sticking.  Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.  Roll each portion into a long strip and brush with butter.  Form the strip into a coil and make sure the inner end is tucked in in the middle and the other end is tucked under.  Butter the tops of the mallorca and place them on a 2 greased baking sheets (6-8 rolls per sheet).  Cover the rolls and let them rise until they have doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Bake the mallorca at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Cool on a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.

Tags: Bread, latin