Ensaymada
Finally I baked my own ensaymada, the Filipino sweet bread that taste like brioche, that is topped with creamed butter and sugar. When I was growing up in a small town, we did not snack on ensaymadas. Our merienda (snacks) was boiled or fried bananas, corn, boiled cassava or sweet potatoes, sometimes freshly dug peanuts, and the Cebuano binignit.
Binignit, is banana, yam and other tubers cooked with coconut milk.
Having baked goods for snacks was too posh for a kid like me, who grew up in a place full of coconuts, bananas, corn, cassava and yams.
But I was exposed to another kind of merienda when we would spend school holidays at the capital to be with my mother’s family.
In Manila, our merienda was completely different. I remember it well my grandmother would send me to the bakery to buy monay (another sweet bread), ensaymada, pan de Sal and a 100 grams of butter or margarine.
For you non Filipino readers in the Philippines you don’t need to buy a block of butter, you can get say 100grams at small stores or at bakeries.
For years I have not eaten ensaymada, to think we have left the country in 1984.
In summer of 1999 my work took me to Palma, Mallorca, Spain.
I was walking in town when I saw a familiar shape of bread. It was ensaymada, am not surprised if I found it in Spain.
Ah the Spanish influence on Filipino food. Read more about it here…
It was scrumptious.
Since then I have bought ensaymada in UK, France and here in Athens.
But its always too dry, too flat, too chemical tasting, too yellow.
What finally pushed me to bake was I had enough of yucky ensaymadas. Last week I was in Ambelokipi,
(part of Athens where most Filipinos reside). There are 2 kinds of ensaymada there. The Goldilocks, which has travelled a thousand miles , thank you very much.
The grated cheese looked so sad.
Goldilocks by the way is a bakery chain in the Philippines and some shops here import their products.
And the one locally baked but in commercial scale.
After a bite, I gave up. It was so yellow (colouring??? ) so dense (did they proof the dough) and the you can a strong smell of yeast. Argh I really wasted 4€!!!
So armed with curiosity with a sense of adventure for trial and errors, I dug archives of fellow foodies blogs.
The recipe at The Scent of Green Bananas is easy to follow and her photos just told me “am the recipe you want!â€
I made 2 kinds. The small ones were just topped with creamed butter and dusted with sugar.
The bigger ones, I flattened them, added grated Gouda and butter, then coiled.
The cheese was incorporated into the dough.
As soon they came out I made tea, cooled down 2 pieces so I could add butter and sugar.
But the one with cheese, I added grated cheese immediately so they melted a bit.
The sharpness of the Gouda goes well with the bread.
I savoured the bread with a huge grin on my face.
No preservatives, no colouring, not margarine but real butter.
Mine was rich, light and has a great texture, the way a ensaymada should be.
Thank you Santos
Maraming Salamat!
Ah, sarap naman nyan!!! I love binignit too! (with lots of kamote and saging)
hi sha, yum!!! sarap ensaymada ah! and binignit sounds just like our ginataan. do you ever add rice balls too?
Move over Mulach & Goldilocks Ensaymad. Yours is fooookingglicious, Sha. You are making my mouth watering on these lovely bread.
I remember in my provincial life, we had to wake up at 4 in the morning to line up at the tiny bakery just to grab a hot ensaymada rolled in a typical margarine sugah on top.
Save me some foh mah tey.
sha..i’m not yet having breakfast..paki-itcha-han mo naman ako nyan!
Like I have said before, I am not into sweets thus I am never into the ensaymada thing. I always prefer hot pan de sal!!! I also like banana cues and turon too. And remember the pinaypay bananas?
Wait, I also like the boiled saba bananas eaten dipped in ginamos with calamsi in the beach! Ahhh, those were the days, hehe.
I read Santos’ recipe. Wow, letting the dough rise only once! That’s a fast way of making ensaymada. The only recipe of ensaymada I have (in Nora Daza’s cookbook) says the dough has to rise three times. Maybe when I’m a little better at baking, I’ll make ensaymada too. Am not that confident yet. 😛
Sassy this recipe the dough was proofed TWICE
first on the dough was left to rise for an hr
then when I rolled them into coils
I left them for another 1hr
imagine I started preparing this at 1pm and I did not get the baked bread till 5pm
labour of love…
i am back sha, still knock out from long tiring voyage. 10 times queing for airport control. i supposed your “buwisita” left.. hi hi; just kidding! evidently you were able to take hours and hours preparing this lovely ensaymada, courageous lady, buti na lang malamig sa greece this time.
it looks delicious ate sha and also i thought it was really hard making ensaymada
Looking smashing good as always from you and what gorgeus pictures – one can almost smell the sweets.
now you have me craving binignit 🙂 your ensaymada turned out so beautifully! i’m glad you liked the recipe.
Thanks Sha for giving us the link! Both yours and Santos’ ensaymada look great! I can’t wait to try this…cross your fingers that I can do it! 🙂
I’ve never tried bignit. Sounds interesting. The ensaymada you baked looks so yummy! Definitely better than the sad looking Goldilocks.
Oh, I’ve been eyeing Santos’ recipe too! I have it printed out and have been meaning to try it but just never got around to it. Now that you’ve tested it, I’m even more encouraged to try it. They look delicious!
Shakoy, does this mean you will make this for me when I come home for 10 days.. Yes, of course you will… Im your favourite person in the world remember?
Ay ay ay.. gutom
Hei Sha!
Sorry di ako nakadalaw kaagad. My friend from Berlin came last Thursday and I was busy showing her Oslo Fredrikstad.
Love Ensaymada.
Wow Sha. They look delicious and so profesional. I wish they imported goldilocks here in Oz! 🙁
We can buy ensaymada here from the filipina shop but its not the same apparently to what u can get in the phils. But that is the only one i’ve tasted. I should try the recipe you used. It looks so amazing!
hi sha, this looks totally awesome – i can only imagine how delicious it must be with butter and sgar, washed down by a mug of freshly brewed coffee. thanks so much for sharing your wonderful story!
Your brioches look beautiful!
hello sha, i attempted but didn’t turn out as gorgeous as yours! am gonna try again as the kids really love it, and it’s very easy to make. thank you to you and santos for posting!
hi sha, honestly i suppose your ensaymada taste better than the one i have eaten from mullachs at the gateway last year.
It w
sorry my comment unfinished. My finger flies from the keyboard he he.. back to comment.. the mulach ensaymada i tasted last year was yuckky uncooked dough, “comoflague” did i wrote it correct, with butter and cheese on top, but still it was yuckkky! This is the first time i had the trouble of jetlag, i woke 3,4,5 o’clock in the morning. I’ve been preparing my LP7 entry, LOL count the day, as i am looking for word in the dictionnary to improve my entry.. ha ha ha “biro lang”..
thanks for the greeting ate!
Shatzli, I still owe you that ensaimada recipe I have been trying for months. Not much longer to wait…by the end of the month! But yours look terrific!
Congrats for baking your first ensaymada Sha. This looks like a real feat!
Sha,
Looks really de…li…cious! But there is no nutrifacts included???? Calories…. lots sure but the heck i gained weight too!!
Hi Shalimar – I remember Celia told me about the Spanish influence in Filipino cooking, how interesting! Your bread look wonderful, thank you so much for sharing the lovely story.
Hi Sha – this looks yummy! I was totally hooked for the very similar-looking Spanish version in Barcelona few years ago and had it for breakfast every morning.
Must be the Spanish/Filipino culinary closeness again.
Sha…congrats pictures lang gani, YUMMY na au the benignit and the ensaymada…gigutom lang hinoon ko DAY!
elo po…ate parang ang sarap naman ng recipe u at ni santos…gagawin ko din kc gusto ng nanay ko den ititinda ko…hehehe…
Hi, just came across ur blog. would like to confirm this ensaymada is using all purpose flour and not bread flour is it? thanks! tot of making it this weekend.
oh my world! naamoy ko pa ata yung ensaymada. eh nandito ako sa harap ng computer.
Talking about binignit, it’s really a delicious filipino delicacy. In our hometown it is called Ginat-an (in waray). And yes, it’s true ensaymada also tastes good especially if it’s soft. I got Santo’s recipe and we’re gonna try to make it and eventually SELL them. (we have small business of selling homebaked goodies in the province)
I never thought that I could find along time friend by browsing on food… too glad to find you here.. Sha and Jo, talking about Ensaymada in this part of cyber world is great..glad to hear from you on your food trips.. Manoy Butch here.
So……with that long story ……where is the ensaymada recipe?