Ensaymada Cheese Bread (Filipino Sweet Cheese Brioche)
Ensaymada is a Filipino sweet brioche bread topped with butter, sugar, and grated cheese, descended from the Spanish ensaimada of Mallorca but transformed into something distinctly Filipino. The dough is enriched with eggs and butter, kneaded until smooth, and given a long rise that produces a pillowy crumb with a pull-apart, cotton-like texture when torn by hand. After baking, each bun is brushed with softened butter, rolled in sugar, and covered with a generous layer of grated cheddar or Edam cheese. The combination of sweet bread and salty cheese is central to the appeal and reflects a Filipino preference for contrasting flavors within a single bite. Ensaymada is most popular during Christmas, when bakeries produce them in large quantities, but it is eaten year-round as a breakfast bread with hot chocolate or coffee.
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Instructions
- 1
Mix milk, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar; rest 5 minutes until foamy.
- 2
Combine dry ingredients with egg and yeast milk, then knead in butter gradually for 10 minutes.
- 3
After 70 minutes first proof, deflate and divide into 6 pieces, rolling each into a rope.
- 4
Coil each rope into a spiral, place in muffin molds, and proof 30 minutes.
- 5
Bake at 180°C for 18-20 minutes and cool completely.
- 6
Spread soft butter on top and finish with grated parmesan.
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