Guatemalan Breads Once Again

In my previous post, I mentioned that I have been creating a breads cookbook, just for myself; a way of getting together all my bread recipes. As I was collecting  all the recipes I had made to date under the chapter for Guatemalan Breads, I started looking around the internet once again and found some more to try. The recipes I am posting here are, in the main, from a YouTube video by Recetas y Pasteles Lili. The whole video is in Spanish, and it is long, but very thorough. My recipe has minimal changes, and less steps, plus, it's in English, but my gratitude to "Lili" for the recipes and instructions.

Gusanitos, Gallinitas and Besitos, Guatemalan Breads

These breads, all three of them, are made from the same dough, and the same batch of sugar paste. They are fairly sweet, sweeter than most of the Guatemalan breads. But, they are really cute breads. One shape is called Gallinitas, or "Little Hens." So called, because they supposedly represent the coxcomb (wrong sex, but hey!) with their little floppy looking tops. Another of these breads is called Besitos, or "Little Kisses," as they have an "X" cut into the top. The third of these breads are called Gusanitos, or "Little Worms," so called because of the segmented-looking bodies. If these don't sound inviting, just wait.

Since they are all made from the same dough(s), once the dough is made and ready, they simply need to be shaped. There is an interesting little trick to forming each of them, and only for the Besitos did I change the method, as Lili's method seemed cumbersome. These breads are just delightful with a cup of coffee, be it for breakfast or afternoon snack. Once trying out the methods they do become very easy. I hope you'll give them a try.

Pan Dulce (Gallinitas, Besitos and Gusanitos)

Makes 18 sweet rolls

Make the SUGAR PASTE: with hands or a small mixer, beat together the flour, sugar and lard or shortening until it is cohesive. Add in a tablespoon of water. It should have the consistency of dough. If not, add a tiny bit more water at a time until it can be formed easily, rolling out or making into a ball. Divide the Sugar Paste into 3 equal portions, by weight, form each into a ball and set back in the bowl, Cover the bowl to prevent drying and set aside.

MAKE THE DOUGH: Place all ingredients for “dough” except the water into a heavy duty stand mixer or into a large bowl if mixing by hand. Run the mixer with paddle until the lard had dispersed well. Add in most (not all) of the water and begin mixing with the dough hook, or by hand. The dough should be very soft, but not so soft it cannot be handled. Add the remaining water if needed, to achieve this soft consistency. Knead the dough for 5 to 8 minutes, then allow it to rest for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Turn the dough out onto a greased surface and divide the dough into 3 equal portions, by weight. Each portion will make 6 rolls. Set two portions aside, covered. Divide the last portion of dough into 6 equal pieces by weight.

To make “GALLINITAS:” Make each of the 6 pieces of dough into a log about 6 to 7-inches long. Take one of the balls of sugar paste and equally divide the ball into 6 pieces. Take one of these pieces of the sugar paste almost, but not quite, as big as the piece of dough and roll it into a similar length log. Set the sugar paste log on top of the dough log. Flatten the two pieces together, to a width of about 1.5 inches. No need to lengthen the log. Now, using a small knife or a metal bench scraper, slice through the stack, from the center to the wide edge, repeating these cuts about every quarter-inch.

From one short end, begin to roll up this piece, until you come to the end of the length. The bread is formed sideways, so turn the dough so the floppy ends are now the top and set on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat this process for the remaining five pieces of the dough,  setting them well-spaced, on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Gallinitas, or Little Hens

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To make “BESITOS:” Take the second portion of the dough and further divide it into 6 equal pieces by weight. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten the ball with hands to about 3½  to 4-inches in diameter. Take the second of the balls of sugar paste, further divide this ball into 6 equal pieces. Take one small ball of the sugar paste and set it in the center of the dough circle, photo 1. Bring the dough up and around the sugar paste to completely encase it, pinching the ends so they stay closed. Turn the ball over so the seam is on the bottom, photo 2, and set this onto a parchment lined baking sheet. With clean scissors, snip across the top of the ball, photo 3. Now snip the top in the opposite direction, across the first cut, photo 4, and forming an “X in the dough, having cut through so the sugar paste is exposed, photo 5. Repeat this process with the remaining 5 balls of dough from this group, setting them well apart onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with egg wash, avoiding the open, cut surfaces.

Besitos, or Little Kisses

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To make “GUSANITOS:” With the last of the 3 portions of dough, divide this into 6 equal pieces by weight. Take one piece and form a ball. Set the ball onto the oiled surface and flatten to a large, long oval, approximately 5 x 8”. With the last remaining sugar paste ball, divide into 6 equal pieces. Take one piece of the sugar paste and flatten as much as possible between the hands, then set this piece onto one end of the long oval of dough, leaving about ½-inch of dough exposed at the end, photo 1, below, ensuring that the paste just reaches the side edges. Make slices through the sugar paste and dough, starting about a third of the way up the dough, cutting into strips downward about every quarter to one-third inch apart, photo 2. Begin rolling the dough from the short end without the sugar paste, pressing each side to seal as you roll, photos 3, 4, 5. Once the roll is complete, photo 6, the cuts will reveal the sugary insides and the segments will somewhat resemble a worm, or “gusanito.” Repeat this process with the remaining 5 pieces of dough and sugar paste. Set each Gusanito onto parchment lined baking sheets, well apart. Brush the dough with egg wash, but avoid getting the egg into the cut surfaces. Set aside, covered, and proof for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake all the breads for 15 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for 10 minutes more, for a total of 25 minutes. If breads are on separate pans, bake one tray at a time.

Gusanitos or Little Worms

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

More Guatemalan Pan Dulce

Yesterday I wrote about finally finding recipes - or at least videos - that point to ingredients for Guatemalan Pan Dulce, or Pan de Manteca (Sweet Bread or Bread enriched with one or more of many ingredients, such as shortening, lard, butter, eggs, sugar). The amounts may not be there in the videos, or may only be partially complete in sites with a "recipe," but I can manage to figure amounts out on my own. What I'd wanted to know was what were the actual ingredients used. So after a long-winded story, yesterday's post was on a recipe I had long wished for, called Shecas, a bread that should be made with rapadura (pilon/piloncillo), a sugar cane product that is sold as a solid chunk, being grated for a recipe. Oh, and anise seeds. Those two ingredients were key.

Pan Tostada: Hojtas, Pan de Churro & Rosquitas

But Shecas, or Champurradas, or Molletes are only the tip of that particular iceberg. There are so very many types of Pan Dulce available there. Some of the types of breads are made crispy. Champurradas are one of those types, and their crispiness is most wonderful dipped into coffee or hot chocolate. Mmmmm. Another style of breads, and Champurradas can also be made from this same dough, fall under the general title of "Pan Tostado," meaning Toasted Bread. In this case, toasted just means baked until crisp. Under the umbrella of the title of "Pan Tostado" come quite a few options for shapes and styles, each shape with its own name. I opted to try these out as they are tasty, though they were not high on my most favorite list. I made the dough, which came out beautifully, and then proceeded to form them into three of the possible shapes: Hojitas (oh-HEE-tahs) or little leaves, Pan de Churro (so called, I imagine, as they look like they had been extruded like a churro) and roscas or rosquitas (rings, or small rings, respectively).

Pan Tostada in its various shapes, all seem to be dredged in sugar before baking, giving them a sweet exterior. That said, most of the time that I saw Rosquitas, they had no sugar on them. I made a recipe for those some time ago (see that recipe here) and they are good, too, though this new version is lighter and more crisp.

Pan Tostada

Made 24 breads

In a bowl, mix together the lard, sugar, salt, egg, vanilla and cinnamon, with about half the water until fairly well combined. Separately, stir together the flour and baking powder to distribute evenly, then add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring. Add the remaining water and flour and stir until the mass comes together. Continue to mix by hand until you have a cohesive dough. Divide the dough into 24 pieces, about 1-ounce each, then either make some of all three shapes, or make all into one shape. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a couple of baking sheets. Have ready a wide bowl or flat plate with sugar. Once any of the forms is shaped, dredge them in the sugar on both sides, then set on the baking sheet. They will not grow significantly, so an inch of space between them is sufficient.


To make Pan de Churro: Take the portion of dough and roll out into a log
about 12 inches in length. Take about a third of the length and fold alongside the main length of the log. Overlapping slightly, bring up the other end of the log and set over top, in the little space made by the first fold. Dredge in sugar and place on baking sheet, then continue with more shapes.

To make Hojitas:  Roll out the dough to an oval shape about 5 to 6 inches in length. Using one finger on each hand, begin pressing the dough towards the inside of the oval, enough to slightly overlap the dough in a crescent. Repeat this along the outer edge of the oval on both sides simultaneously, until reaching the bottom of the oval. Dredge in sugar and set onto baking sheet, then continue with more shapes.

To make Rosquitas: Roll out a portion of the dough into a log, then make into a circle, pressing ends together to seal. Use a small knife to cut halfway into the thickness of the ring, making a fringe. The fringe can be made all the way around the circle, halfway around the circle, or omitted entirely, leaving the circle smooth. Dredge the shape in sugar, set on the baking sheet and continue with more shapes, until the dough is gone. 

Bake the breads for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden and crisp. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Guatemalan Pan Dulce

I spent 12 years in Guatemala, from age 20 to 32. It has been 38 years since I returned to the U.S. In all that time, I have wished for the knowledge of how to make the Pan Dulce (also called Pan de Manteca) that was available down there fresh daily, usually delivered door to door by a guy on a bicycle with a huge basket of these breads attached to his handlebars.

Pan Dulce

For those who do not know anything of pan dulce, it directly translates as "sweet bread." In reality, the term more aptly applies to enriched breads, or ones whose recipes call for using lard / shortening / butter, eggs, sugar and sometimes vanilla - not all together. These are also sometimes referred to as "Pan de Manteca," manteca meaning shortening (or lard or butter). This descriptor of "pan dulce" is to mark the difference from pan frances. "Pan Frances" is translated to French Bread, which, of course, is simply a mix of flour, water, salt and yeast. Bread at its most basic, and no less delicious, for the lack of the enriching ingredients.

These enriched breads are all made as individual serving breads, all smaller, not much more than 2 ounce bits of goodness. As the vendors would ride up to the house, honking their little bicycle horns to announce themselves, we would rush out and select the bread assortment for the day. The assortment could consist of 10 different varieties of bread or more. What fantastic variety. 
 

Finding Recipes

So it has been that over the years I have occasionally looked through the internet in hopes of an inkling into what, exactly, constituted a recipe for some of these sweetened, enriched breads. I had a recipe for a roll dough that seemed like it could easily be used to make molletes. The only thing lacking was the little sugary topping part. I finally found, after a lot of searching, a mixture that worked for that sugary topping, and I made what, for all intents and purposes, were molletes, and I was ecstatic.  

Champurradas

Somewhat earlier, I had found a recipe for some cookie-like "breads" called Champurradas, and I measured out and recorded ingredients for what I had done. These "breads" were never very sweet, at least not in Guatemala. They are not a cookie, as we know cookies. Yet nowadays, as I was looking through all the (now available) recipes for champurradas, they are always termed "cookies" and always have a LOT of sugar in them, very unlike what I knew in Guatemala. Still, I wasn't completely happy with my previous champurradas recipe. They didn't taste exactly right. And so, I went about changing the recipe to one which, now, I am totally happy with. Great for dunking into coffee or hot chocolate. Yummy.

Another one of the breads that was a personal favorite out of all the amazing variety, were called Shecas (also spelled Xecas, with the "x" making the same "sh" sound, and also known as Semitas or Cemitas). Even 5 years ago, I was completely unable to find even a mention of these breads on the internet, much less a recipe (or two for comparison). Over the intervening years the availability of all things on the internet has bloomed and now there is so very much available that it is hard to even recall a time when all this was only a distant dream. And as small a country as Guatemala may be (about the size of Tennessee, and most of it rural - REALLY, REALLY rural), suddenly it is being overrun with tourists and so much has become available, be it just photos, travel blogs or recipes and videos, even from outlying places as far off as Coban. Truly amazing. 

Shecas

Shecas

And with all this, I have finally gotten a recipe for the Shecas I craved all these years, along with so many others. I have been baking daily for over a week now, and to date have made Shecas, Pan Tostada (made into different shapes: Pan de Churro, Hojaldras and Rosquitas), Campechanas and Lenguas (these last two from the same dough, but different styles), Pan de Yemas (aka Pan de Fiesta). I remade the molletes and champurradas to a better, more authentic style (and updated the recipes in those blogs to reflect the changes that made them far tastier). For today, I am setting out my own recipe for Shecas, at long last. Shecas call for "rapadura", or "piloncillo," as the sugar, these being a solid version of sugar before it has gone on to be refined into white sugar. It is usually grated. I had none of this available, and for the sake of ease for others making these, used a mix of brown sugar and molasses.

There are not a lot of recipes for Shecas out there available, and most are similar. But. The recipes are very poorly written, often omitting amounts, or giving amounts some in grams, some in cups, with no happy medium to follow. One called for 3 TABLESPOONS of baking powder! I don't think so!!! A lot of the work this past week was determining the exact amounts to make these breads turn out well. Any of the yeast breads can be made into bun-like breads, fit for any meal or occasion. Thanksgiving is coming up shortly, and whether you have Guatemalan memories, or just want something new, I hope you may give some of these recipes a try.

Shecas / Xecas

Makes 20 individual breads

In a bowl combine the first 6 dry ingredients, whisking together; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the lard and molasses, then slowly stir in the water. Stir in about half the dry mixture, stirring well, then add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix well, converting to hands once mixture is too thick for a spoon.

Dough passes windowpane test

The mixing can be done in a heavy duty stand mixer, if preferred. If kneading by hand, turn out to a greased surface, and with hands also well greased, knead the dough for 15 to 20 minutes or until it passes the windowpane test, shown here. The gluten should have developed sufficiently so that when a small piece of dough is pulled out between two hands, the dough stretches enough to see light through, without tearing. 

Grease a clean bowl and set the dough in, turning once to grease both sides. Cover with a towel or plastic film and set aside to rise until nearly doubled, about an hour.

Forming Shecas with topknot

Turn the dough out onto a clean, greased surface and divide the dough into 20 equal balls of about 1.5 ounces or 44 grams each. Set a bowl out with flour in it for dusting and rolling. With each of the little balls of dough, roll each piece of dough into a nice, tight ball, then follow the sequence pictured above:

1. Using the side of your hand, roll one side of the dough into two distinct areas, rather like a bowling pin. The larger end will be the body of the roll and the smaller end will be the topknot, just like as for brioche. 
2. Lift the dough by the smaller ball end and stand upright.
3. Pinch around the "neck" of the smaller ball and begin pressing the small ball downwards, setting it deeply into the larger ball.
4. Finished and formed "Sheca."

Formed dough dredged in flour and set to rise

As each roll is formed with its topknot, dredge it in the bowl with plain flour to coat well. Set the rolls, well apart, onto a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with a sheet of plastic film and allow to proof for about 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Once rolls have grown to not quite twice their size. Bake them on a middle rack for 25 minutes, until nicely browned.





My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Making Rosquitas or Little Ring Shaped Breads

Still working on my Guatemalan cookbook/memoir for my daughter, I am working diligently on recipes to make and photograph. I want as many of my own photos in the book as possible. Making all of them, for now, will not happen, but some are easier than others. Rosquitas (pronounced "rrhoss-KEE-tahs) are one of the easier recipes. The only reason I never looked at them as a recipe possibility is because I was never terribly fond of them. Not that there is anything intrinsically wrong with them. Everyone has their own taste, and I am sure these little bread / cookies must have a strong niche in the market to still be popular. 

Baked Rosquitas

What are Rosquitas, you may ask?

Rosquitas are little Guatemalan ring shaped bread / cookies that fall under the header of "sweet breads", or "panes de manteca". These fall in with some, like champurradas, hojaldras and other harder type "breads" that are actually verging on being a cookie. The only difference is that cookies are usually sweeter, and these breads, while made with sugar in the recipe, are generally not too sweet.
 

Rosquita dough, fringed or not, ready to bake

The rosquitas (meaning "rings") are shaped into little rings, and sometimes are left smoothly ring shaped, and sometimes they are given a little notched "fringe" either on only one side or sometimes around the whole bread. Once baked, these little bread / cookies are tender but crisp. The hardness level is nearly to a teething biscuit, which is what they always reminded me of. Being less sweet, on their own they are less inviting to eat. Dip them into hot coffee or hot chocolate however, and you have a much better result.

If you are interested in a cookie that is not too sweet, this is the way to go. The shape makes them interesting. See what you think:

Baked Rosquitas

Rosquitas

Makes 32 little ring-shaped cookies

3 cups (14 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup (4 ounces) sugar
4 egg yolks
3 ounces milk (6 tablespoons)

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Beat the butter with the sugar until creamy. Add the yolks and beat until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and cut in with fingers or a pastry cutter, until crumbly. Add in 2 ounces of the milk (4 tablespoons or ¼ cup) and mix lightly and quickly as for pie dough. If the dough will not yet come together, begin adding the remaining milk, one tablespoon at a time. Add the extra milk only if needed to make a stiff cookie-like dough.

Making fringe on Rosquita dough

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the dough into 32 small pieces of equal size. Roll each piece into a log about 6½ to 7-inches long, equal thickness along its length. Bring the two ends together and pinch slightly to make a ring. At this point they may be placed on an ungreased baking sheet to bake, or you might make the little fringed edge, using either a small, sharp knife or small scissors to make many small snips halfway into the thickness of the ring along one side of the ring, or around the entire perimeter if desired. Set the shapes on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes, until golden.
When all is said and done, I find that I really like these little cookie / breads now. Possibly because I am not being tempted by 15 other varieties of Pan Dulce all at once? Possibly. Still, I truly am enjoying these cookies now, with a nice cup of coffee, mmmm.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Molletes are a Well Known Guatemalan Bread

I lived in Guatemala for 12 years, in the 1970s and earliest '80s. I understand a lot has changed in the years since then, but my memories of that time are clear. The bread in Guatemala was unlike anything I had ever seen in my 20 years prior to moving there. They had "French Bread" or "Pan Frances". this was the main, unsweetened bread. Aside from this, and the ubiquitous corn tortillas, there were what were called either Pan Dulce ("sweet bread") or Pan de Manteca (a bread made with shortening or butter or lard) These sweet/shortening type breads were so many and so varied that it is hard to even describe them. I do not recall the names of all of them. I wrote a little of this in a recent blog of December 8, 2014.

Molletes

What is a Mollete?

Mollete is pronounced "moh-YET-tay". The double "LL" in the middle is pronounced as "Y". Molletes, one of the "Panes de Manteca", or sweet/enriched breads, are small, individual sized rounded breads, vaguely sweet, and most often seen with a little mound of some sort of sugary substance stuck on the top. These little breads are excellent with beans and coffee for breakfast, or at any time of day. Great in the afternoon with coffee (or tea) as a snack, also. The bread is rich, soft inside, but with some substance. Aside from just eating them on the day they are made, once leftover, they become dry and crumbly. Guatemalans rarely waste foods, so once the bread becomes dried out, it becomes the basis for other things. 

Molletes with egg and beans for breakfast

Molletes are also used to create a dessert called "Molletes". Confusing? I suppose. Sometimes this dessert is distinguished by calling it Molletes en Dulce, meaning they are made into a "sweet". This dessert is a specialty around Holy Week before Easter, but it can be made at any time. To make the dessert, the top is cut off the breads, a little of the bread is scooped out and filled in with cream, or cornstarch custard. The little "lid" is placed back on top, and the whole bread is coated in very well beaten eggs, fluffy and light. They are then fried, so no raw egg remains and they are sealed shut, and then slipped into a large pot of simmering sugar syrup, flavored with cinnamon and raisins and allowed to absorb this liquid. These were a most delectable treat, and one fantastic way to use leftover bread. On occasion, something similar is done with other types of bread. I have made them with French bread, cut into 2-inch cubes. 

Molletes, served

Recently I made another of the Guatemalan sweet breads, called Champurradas (recipe in the same blog as noted above), which are like a large, not very sweet cookie. Since most of these breads are made only at the bakeries found everywhere, no one makes them at home. Hence, no recipes. It is very hard to replicate a bread I ate over 40 years ago, with no recipe to at least give some approximation of what is used. One of the breads I most wish I had some kind of recipe for is one my ex-husband said are called Shecas. These, at least in Guatemala City where I lived, were not a totally white variety of bread, but I don't know if whole wheat was used or the color comes from another source. The bread was denser than the molletes. Anise seeds were in the bread, but not in abundance, so when you took a bite, it was hit or miss to actually taste a seed. When the anise seed did make its presence known, it was sort of a joyous feeling of satisfaction; triumph. And, these Shecas were wonderful when eating black beans. I so wish I had some idea of the ingredients.

I have been trying to make as many Guatemalan foods as possible, in order to get the photos to use in the cookbook/memoir I am still working on. I made the molletes just after Christmas, and have a bunch of them frozen. Eating them brings back a flood of taste memories, so I must have hit close to how the recipe should be made. Here is what I did:

Molletes

 Makes 2 dozen

BREAD: In a bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the flour with the sugar, yeast, baking powder and salt. Separately, combine the milk, eggs and vanilla. If the eggs do not make at least ½ cup, you may need a little more milk to mix the dough properly. Mix the lard or shortening into the dry ingredients briefly, then pour in the liquid mixture. Stir well, then add int he remaining flour and knead for about 15 or more minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test. For the windowpane test: take a small piece of the dough and stretch between the fingers until it will stretch thin enough to see light through (a "windowpane") without tearing. Grease a large bowl and scrape the dough into the bowl, turning once to grease both sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 to ½ hours.

Turn the dough out onto a greased surface. Cut the dough into 24 equal balls, approximately 1½ ounces apiece. Form each portion of the dough into a nice, tight little ball and set well apart (about 3-inches between) on greased baking sheets. 

Size of the dough balls; placement on baking sheet, and baked Molletes

TOPPING: Mix together the three ingredients as for a streusel, though this will be far stickier. Moisten the top of each little bread ball with water, then place a scant ½ teaspoon of the topping mixture on each, spreading and flattening the mixture with moist fingers. Set the breads aside to rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the breads for about 12 minutes, to an internal temperature of 105 to 200 degrees, until golden, rotating the sheets once halfway through baking time for even browning.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Greek Christmas Bread and Guatemalan Champurradas

Champurradas and Coffee!

I have been absent from this blog because I have been busy with various projects. One was even Christmas related! For starters, one of my daughters was turning 40 a few days back, and when my oldest turned 40, I had created a cookbook-memoir for her, of all the recipes I had amassed when in Guatemala. Mind you, many of the recipes I made while down there were made by watching what someone else did, and copying the method down while I watched, or approximating what I ate and tasted somewhere. 

While living in Guatemala, we had little money, and one little Instamatic camera. More often than not, the flash would not work, so it was safest to take photos outside, but even then, most photo taking was of one of the children, or my husband (at the time) or myself, for a holiday or birthday. Looking back, I so wish I could have had the camera I own today, and the ability to take all those missed photo ops all over again. So when it came to making that cookbook-memoir, I had little, if any, photos of the foods, much less of the beautiful scenery. I searched online for photos that looked similar enough to what I had made and used them in that book. It was only a memoir for my daughter, after all. She knows what the foods and the country look like, as she spent time there as a young adult, but it's nicer to have photos. 

So when Jenny turned 40 a few days ago, I asked if she was interested in a remake of that same book. It was an emphatic YES! At this point in time, I have made many of the recipes and photographed them for my website or this blog, so I can go back and replace some of the photos in that book with my own. Still, there are a lot of recipes I keep meaning to make and get photos of, but just never seem to make the time. Two of these are Champurradas and Guatemalan Empanadas de Manjar. I had been working on the remake of the cookbook-memoir, and when I got to the page for Champurradas, I thought, "Enough! Just DO it!" So I went downstairs and made them.

I had never made Champurradas before. I had a recipe I copied from somewhere, but Guatemalan recipes are notorious for lack of proper measurements and sometimes of any measurements at all. I had cobbled together what I intended to try, after noting the differences in a few different recipes. One thing that my recipe called for was Masa Harina, the corn flour used for making tortillas. While I love the flavor of Masa Harina in things, my "taste memory" of Champurradas did not recall that particular flavor. 

So What are Champurradas?

Champurradas, ready to bake

In Guatemala, as well as Mexico and other countries of Latin America, there are large varieties of what are called "Pan Dulce" or Sweet Breads. While these breads are not really what one might term "sweet", they are richer than French bread or sandwich bread. They are made in all sorts of flavors and styles. Little round ones with a sugary topping are "molletes", little anise studded ones called "shecas/xecas/cemitas", long, leaf-shaped, sugar-coated "hojaldras", flat, cookie-like "champurradas" and so many many more (see the two photos above, that I used and had credited from a website that no longer appears to be there, as of November 2019). So, a champurrada is the closest to a cookie that I can describe of the breads in Guatemala. Flat and crisp, but very large at about 5 or more inches across. Not really too sweet, they were marvelous dunked in a nice cup of coffee. As it happens, they turned out really well, and I am enjoying them, one at a time, with coffee. This is what I did to make them:

Champurradas

Makes 12 to 14, depending on thickness and diameter
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have two large cookie sheets ready.

Cream together the lard (or shortening) with the sugar and vanilla. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder and add them to the creamed mixture until it looks like crumbs, much as for pie dough. Whisk the eggs in a measuring cup and if the amount does not make 5.5 ounces in total, add some water to make that amount. Stir the egg mixture into the bowl and bring the mixture together quickly with a fork or fingers, without over working the dough. Lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough to less than ¼-inch thick and cut rounds that are about 5-inches in diameter. I used a small dessert bowl with smooth rim. Alternately, divide the dough into 12 to 14 equally sized balls and flatten them to less than ¼-inch, either between waxed paper sheets, or in a tortilla press.

Set these rounds onto the cookie sheets. They will not grow appreciably, so they can be set as close as 1-inch apart. If there is a little egg left in the container where they were whisked, stir in a tablespoon of water to the container and use a pastry brush to brush this over tops of the cookies. Sprinkle lightly with the sesame seeds if desired. Bake them for 25 minutes, or until nicely golden.

Christopsomos, Greek Christmas Bread

Large "X" on top of the bread

The other project I was working on was deciding what to give as gifts to the family here for Christmas this year. To date, I have given plates of cookies, and while well received, they are a chore at times, making so very many to give away. I thought of making some kind of bread. Turning once more to The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart, I leafed through, checking what he had of interest in Christmas Breads. There are three in this book: German Stollen, Italian Panettone and Greek Christopsomos. I have made my version of Stollen many, many times, bastardizing the recipe in the Joy of Cooking, from circa 1966. Reinhart's version of the Stollen will likely be most exceptional. Every single bread I have made from that book has been exceptional. I wanted to try something different. I got caught up reading about "Greek Celebration Breads" and got hooked on the idea of the Christopsomos. 
  
This Greek bread is made with a Byzantine cross on top, made with curlicues at the ends. The cross is also an "X" shape, which is the first letter of Khrestos (Christ) in the Greek alphabet. The name "Christopsomos" translates to "Christ's Bread".

The only difficulty was that Reinhart does not specify how large a loaf the recipes makes. Reading the ingredients, I was unsure if one recipe would make two normal sized loaves or not. To be safe, I experimented first making 1½ times the recipe. As it turned out, the bread was amazingly good, and the recipe would be perfect as gifts. But.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if maybe the Panettone would be better as a gift? We live in South Dakota. There are so many people who find what I feel are mundane ingredients to be totally "out there", strange and exotic. I used Kalamata dried figs and dried cherries, soaked in Gran Marnier overnight. I used Mahlab, a very Mediterranean spice, the tiny kernels of the pit of the St. Lucie Cherry. Maybe I was a little out of some people's comfort zones?

Christopsomos, sliced

So, while I have not yet made the Panettone, I expect it to come out amazingly good as with all the breads from this book. Once I make a batch I will post photos here. For now though, I would remake the Christopsomos bread any time. It made some amazing French Toast this morning, too!

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.