Cooking and baking and then blogging about it have not come easy for the last 2 months.  A new baby complicates things, in the most precious way possible of course.  During the baking and photographing of these tasty treats I was struggling to keep my older two from hurting each other and the little guy from getting too fussy.  Thankfully I was able to pull this challenge off!  Being a mom is a tough job, y’all.  Whew.

The August Daring Bakers’ Challenge took us for a spin! Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen taught us to make rolled pastries inspired by Kurtoskalacs, a traditional Hungarian wedding pastry. These tasty yeasted delights gave us lots to celebrate!

While a part of me really wanted to try the wedding pastry I just didn’t feel up to the challenge, so I chose the less daring challenge and made these lovely rolled breads.  They seemed so simple that I wasn’t sure if they’d be anything special.  They were in fact simple, but in a really special way.

The dough is basic yeast dough, not too sweet.  After the first rise you divide the dough into four parts.  You roll each ball of dough into a long rectangle, spread it will softened butter and stretch it out very thin.  You roll that up into a long rope and then wind each rope into a spiral.  Let those rise again, then bake.

The original recipe calls for sprinkling these with powdered sugar after baking, but I was out of powdered sugar.  How this happened I do not know.  So I brushed the breads with egg wash and sprinkled them with raw sugar.  I really liked the textural difference this gave these breads.

As always, I am glad to have been introduced to something I otherwise would never have heard of.  Thanks, Swathi!

And thanks to this little guy who got out his play camera to help me take pictures.

Ensaimadas

Makes 4 large breads

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (plus 1/2 teaspoon for yeast)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 egg
• raw sugar

Directions

1. Mix together warm water, yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl.  Let sit for 5 minutes, until it blooms.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook combine egg, olive oil, salt and sugar and stir.
3. Add in flour and yeast mixture and knead for about 6 minutes.
4. Remove from bowl and transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let rise for about 2 hours.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
6. Flour a clean work surface and turn dough out.  Divide into 4 equal parts.
7. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out into a rectangle, 4 by 8 inches.  Spread with 1 1/2 tablespoons of softened butter and then stretch the dough out to about 8 by 14 inches.
8. Roll the dough from the long end into a tight rope.  Take the rope in your hands and try to get it into an even thickness and stretch it just a bit longer.
9. Coil the rope into a loose snail shape onto the parchment lined sheet, so that there is some room for the dough to rise.  Repeat with the other dough balls.  Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 1 hour.
10. Preheat oven to 350°F.
11. Beat the egg with a splash of water.  Brush onto each roll then sprinkle generously with sugar.
12. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
13. Let cool slightly before serving.