Filipino · bread

Ensaymada (Soft Brioche with Butter, Sugar and Kesong Puti)

Ensaymada (Soft Brioche with Butter, Sugar and Kesong Puti) reads sweetness 6.7, richness 6.3 and salinity 3.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Filipino bread, about 4 hr 9 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 4.3 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 6.7 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 0.6 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 0.3 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.5 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 0.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 6.7 · Richness 6.3 · Salinity 3.8 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Umami 2.5 · Floral 0.7 · Nutty 0.6 · Sourness 0.6

What's in it (11)

• bread flour — 500 g
• egg yolk — 600 g
• regular milk — 220 g
• caster sugar — 80 g
• yeast — 7 g
• salt — 7 g
• unsalted butter — 180 g
• unsalted butter — 100 g
• caster sugar — 80 g
• queso fresco — 120 g
• edam cheese — 60 g

Time & effort: about 4 hr 9 min (1 hr 6 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 286.7 kcal, 13.4 g protein, 22.5 g fat, 33.2 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Whisk the yeast and the dough sugar into the warm milk and leave 10 minutes until it foams. Milk hotter than about 40 C will kill the yeast; use a thermometer if you are unsure.
2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, make a well and add the yeasted milk and the egg yolks. Bring together and knead 10 minutes by hand or 6 in a mixer, until smooth and elastic.
3. Add the 180 g softened butter a tablespoon at a time, kneading between additions. The dough will look broken and greasy for several minutes; keep going. After 12 to 15 minutes of total kneading it comes back together as a shiny, very soft dough that pulls away from the bowl. This is a rich enriched dough and it will never be firm.
4. Cover and prove at room temperature 90 minutes to 2 hours, until doubled.
5. Knock back and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each into a rectangle about 20 by 12 cm, spread thinly with some of the soft butter, scatter with a little kesong puti, then roll up from the long edge into a rope. Stretch the rope gently to 40 cm and coil it into a spiral in a buttered ensaymada mould or muffin tin. The spiral is what gives the crumb its characteristic pull-apart layers.
6. Prove a second time for 60 to 75 minutes until visibly puffed and light to the touch.
7. Bake at 175 C for 15 to 18 minutes until the tops are pale gold; ensaymada should not brown deeply or it goes dry. While still warm, brush each generously with the remaining soft butter, dredge with the finishing sugar and blanket with grated Edam. The sweet-salty combination is the whole point and Filipino bakeries are heavy-handed with all three.
8. Substitutions: mild feta rinsed of its brine can stand in for the kesong puti.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Pan Cubano (Cuban Bread) — Cuban
• Bolo Lêvedo — Portuguese · Azores
• Kouign-Amann — French · Brittany
• Bola de Berlim — Portuguese
• Beignets — Southern

Keep reading: what sweetness, richness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.