Ensaymada

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 100 g caster sugar
• 10 g instant yeast
• 8 g fine salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 200 ml whole milk, warmed to blood temperature
• 120 g unsalted butter, softened, for the dough
• 100 g unsalted butter, very soft, for rolling
• 100 g unsalted butter, softened, for the topping
• 60 g caster sugar, for the topping
• 120 g queso de bola or mature Edam, finely grated

Before you cook

• Take all the butter and the eggs out of the fridge an hour ahead so everything is at room temperature.
• Warm the milk until it feels neutral on the inside of your wrist.
• Grate the cheese finely and keep it covered.
• Butter twelve ensaymada moulds or a deep 12-hole muffin tin.

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, 100 g caster sugar, yeast and salt together in a large bowl, keeping the salt and yeast on opposite sides as you add them.
2. Beat the egg yolks, whole egg and warm milk together in a jug.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the flour and mix to a shaggy dough with a wooden spoon.
4. Knead the dough on an unfloured surface, or in a mixer with a dough hook, for 8 minutes until it is smooth and no longer tears.
5. Add the 120 g of softened butter a tablespoon at a time, working each piece fully in before the next goes in.
6. Keep kneading for a further 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is glossy, slack and stretches to a translucent window without splitting.
7. Shape the dough into a ball, drop it into a clean oiled bowl and cover it.
8. Leave it somewhere warm for about 90 minutes, until it has doubled and feels airy.
9. Knock the dough back gently and divide it into twelve equal pieces of about 80 g.
10. Roll one piece into a rectangle roughly 12 cm by 30 cm and as thin as you can get it.
11. Spread a thin film of the very soft rolling butter right across the surface.
12. Roll the rectangle up from a long edge into a tight rope, then stretch the rope gently to about 40 cm.
13. Wind the rope into a loose spiral, tuck the end underneath and drop it into a buttered mould.
14. Shape the remaining pieces the same way and space the moulds on a baking tray.
15. Cover the tray loosely and prove for 60 to 75 minutes, until the coils have puffed to fill their moulds and wobble when the tray is nudged.
16. Heat the oven to 180C fan and give it a full ten minutes to come up to temperature.
17. Bake the ensaymada for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are an even pale gold and the sides are set.
18. Turn them out onto a rack and leave them until they are completely cool to the touch.
19. Spread the top of each bun thickly with the softened topping butter.
20. Dust with the caster sugar, then bury the tops under the grated cheese and serve.