A Bun in the Oven (& Some Ensaimada Too)

Some changes have been in the works here at the Burnt Lumpia Worldwide Headquarters over the past few weeks and months. Most recently, the wife and I have been shuffling things from room to room to make room for other things--if that makes sense.

We've pretty much been emptying and clearing out our home office (which was originally an extra bedroom). I've shifted my work desk out of the office and into the breakfast nook next to our kitchen (now making that space more conducive to food blogging). And since there was nowhere else to stow the rest of my office junk, our guestroom is now a guestroom/storage room (now making that space more conducive to shorter visits from my parents. I'm kidding. Kind of.).

And what about the now empty room formerly known as our "office"?

We're turning it into a nursery!

Yes, I'm happy to announce that the wife and I are expecting our first child! "Baby Lumpia" is due in early August, and yes, we do know the sex of the baby--though I think I'll keep that bit of information under wraps, for now at least. Obviously, I've been holding on to this good news for a while now and waiting for the right time to share it with everyone here. But with all the crazy goings-on needed to prepare for a baby (A BABY!), I've been a bit distracted to say the least.

To celebrate the wife's growing belly (and appetite), I decided to bake... a bun in the oven of course! The particular buns I attempted to bake are actually sweet Filipino brioche rolls called Ensaimada.

I know, baking isn't exactly my forte here. I've never baked any sort of bread before, let alone Ensaimada. But I've never had a kid before either. I figure that if I can make a decent Filipino Ensaimada, I've got a decent chance at learning how to change a diaper--both activities involve a great deal of softened butter (insert rimshot here).

With a new baby and all, at least there will be someone besides myself that finds great amusement in poop jokes. At least that's my hope...

A topping of butter, sugar, and cheese. How very Filipino.

Ensaimada come to the Philippines by way of Spain, Majorca to be exact. The main difference nowadays between Majorcan Ensaimadas and Filipino Ensaimadas is that the Spanish variety are made with pork lard, while the Filipino type are made with butter--a funny twist considering the Filipino penchant for pork. And to top it all off, Filipino Ensaimadas usually have a healthy slathering of extra butter, as well as a sprinkling of sugar and grated cheese (Edam, AKA quezo de bola) on its crown.

Initially, I had two Filipino Ensaimada recipes to choose from when I started: a recipe from Saveur Magazine, and a recipe in the Memories Of Philippine Kitchens cookbook. While the Saveur Magazine Ensaimada recipe looked delicious, I decided against it because it required 22 egg yolks (Twenty-effing-two!). So I went with the recipe from Memories Of Philippine Kitchens because its Ensaimada required a more manageable nine egg yolks, plus three whole eggs.

References galore for Ensaimada and Brioche.

Aside from the two legitimate Filipino recipes I had for ensaimada, I also had quite a few cookbooks with brioche recipes to lean on as well (Remember, ensaimada is a type of brioche). I gleaned a lot of useful brioche tips from Alton Brown, Shirley O. Corriher, and Harold McGee--a veritable triumvirate of food science!

Anyhizzle, with all the sciencey and geeky info I had, I made a few adjustments to the procedure from the Memories Of Philippine Kitchens recipe, though most of the ingredients and amounts are the same. The biggest change I made was in the first rise of the dough--I let mine go for 2.5 hours instead of just the hour suggested in the cookbook. I feel this longer initial rise helps develop more flavor in the dough. And don't worry about getting a sour tasting dough from too long of a rise--it would take a few days (at least) to overferment the dough using only commercial dry active yeast.

Although the only Ensaimada I've ever had are the overly buttery and sweet mass-produced ones from Goldilocks, I must say that the Ensaimada I cranked out were divine. They were heavy, dense, and chewy, but not gummy like commercial Ensaimadas tend to be. The saltiness of the cheese and the sweetness of the bun itself, with the sugar sprinkled on top, were a nice counterpoint. And in addition to the traditional Ensaimadas with Edam cheese rolled into the dough, I also made a couple with cinnamon and sugar, and a couple with macapuno.

All in all, I was especially pleased with the texture of the finished buns. My Ensaimada were rich, though more bready than cakey. The crumb structure was also tender and flaky, with a beautiful pale yellow hue. Even though we know the gender of our baby, I think I'm leaning away from painting the nursery pink or blue. A pale yellow nursery seems more fitting, Ensaimada Yellow perhaps.

Mellow Yellow.

Filipino Ensaimada

Adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens

Makes 12 sweet brioche rolls

Dough:
2 envelopes active dry yeast
3/4 cup milk, warmed (105 degrees F--110 degrees F)
1 tablespoon, plus 4 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all-pupose flour
2 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons salt
3 whole eggs
9 egg yolks
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened at room temperature

Filling (all are optional):
Grated Edam cheese
Cinnamon and brown sugar
Macapuno (coconut strings)

Topping:
Milk: for brushing on top before baking
Softened butter: for brushing on top after baking
Sugar: for sprinkling
Grated Edam cheese: for sprinkling

In the work bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the yeast, warmed milk, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Stir with a spoon to combine and let sit for 3-5 minutes until mixture is foamy.

In a separate large bowl, sift together the remaining 4 tablespoons sugar, all-purpose flour, bread flour, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and beat with the paddle attachment of your mixer for 2-3 minutes. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks together. Add the eggs to the dough and continue mixing on medium speed for 3-5 minutes more, until dough just comes together (you may have to scrape down the sides of your bowl and your paddle a couple of times before everything is combined).

At this point, the dough is pretty tough, but your mixer can handle it.

After the dough just comes together, remove it from the stand mixer and place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick.

Place half of the butter in the middle of the dough, then fold over one side of the dough onto the butter.

Place the other half of the butter onto the middle of the dough, then fold over the other side of the dough onto the butter.

Fold the dough into a little package or ball shape, and place back into the work bowl of the stand mixer. (This way of incorporating the butter ensures that it actually gets into the dough. If you just added the butter a tablespoon at a time to a running mixer, most of the butter ends up on the walls of the work bowl and on the outside of the dough, rather than on the inside. I learned this tip from Alton Brown's brioche recipe.)

Exchange the paddle for the dough hook on your stand mixer, and knead the dough and butter for 10-15 minutes on medium speed until butter is well incorporated and the dough becomes glossy and elastic--you may have to scrape down the bowl and hook a few times.

Remove the dough from the work bowl and roll into uniform ball. Add the dough, seam side down, to another large bowl that has been lightly greased (I sprayed my bowl with nonstick spray). Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in volume, 1-3 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, roll it into a ball again, then place back into the greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place the covered bowl into the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, pinch off 24 balls from the dough, each about 2-inches in diameter. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough balls to rise again for another hour.

Balls. Of Dough.

Roll out a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface until the dough is about 12x4 inches. Sprinkle your filling of choice (cheese, cinnamon and sugar, macapuno) in the center of the rolled out dough.

I go easy on the cheese.

Roll the dough over the filling lengthwise into a rope shape about 14-inches long. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls until you have 24 ropes.

1 Rope.

2 Ropes. Braided.

Take two of the ropes and twist them around each other to braid them. Repeat with the other ropes until you have 12 sets of braids. Then form each of the braids into a spiral shape, making sure to tuck in each of the ends--should kinda look like a turban. Place each spiral into a greased fluted brioche mold, or into a greased 4-5 inch tart ring.

However, the kitchen at the Burnt Lumpia Worldwide Headquarters is apparently ill-equipped for fancy-pants baking as I have no brioche molds or tart rings. So I just went commando-style and placed my coils sans support on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Here to let you know boy, oh boy.
I make dough, but don't call me Doughboy.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the top of each of the Ensaimada rolls with some milk, then place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, turning the pan halfway through. Bake until the rolls are golden brown on top (you can leave them in there for longer if you want them a deeper brown).

Remove the buns from the oven and let cool slightly. Brush the warm buns with the softened butter, then sprinkle on as much sugar and cheese as you'd like. Enjoy the ensaimada slathered with some jelly of your choice, with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate on the side, or all by its lonesome.

I stored the leftover Ensaimada in a big zip top bag and just left them out on the kitchen counter. I  reheated them in the microwave for a few seconds whenever I wanted to eat one. Because of the relatively high sugar content in the dough, the Ensaimada won't go stale as fast as other types of bread. With that said, the wife and I, and indirectly the baby too I suppose, finished off all 12 of the Ensaimada in only a few days.

Good times.

Is your father a baker? Because those are the best buns I've ever seen.

Comments

[Mila]

Congratulations Marvin, and the growing BL crew! Big news and worth making buns/ensaymada for the next few months or years even!

[Erin]

I knew it! Congratulations, that is wonderful news!

[Marie]

Congratulations!! Look forward to more baby-related posts!

[darlene]

Congratulations! You guys are in store for some wonderful changes. How exciting!

When I visited my mom in LV over Christmas, we went to a Filipino bakery and had different broiches. So good! They even had one filled with ube.

I also saw that recipe in Saveur and thought WTF because the amounts. Your version sounds so much more doable.

[Lorena]

Congratulations on the baby!

On another note, you must have read my mind because I was thinking of ensaimada earlier today -- a Red Ribbon Bakery, Jollibee and Chowking all opened this week at a San Diego-area mall. But making it myself sounds like a fun project, especially with spring break coming up!

[Janice]

CONGRATS!!! I actually squealed. Best of luck!

[Caroline]

Congratulations, Marvin on "Baby Lumpia" :) How very exciting for you and your wife.

Love the step-by-step pics, you make it look so easy! I'm gonna have to try this soon since I haven't had a decent ensaimada in years.

[joey]

Oh my goodness!!! Congratulations Marvin! This is fantastic news! :)

I can't believe you have never baked ensaymada before...because these look perfect! I may have to go out and buy some now just to satisfy the cravings your photos started!

[socky]

Congratulations, Marvin! Hello, baby lumpia!

[veron]

congratulations!!! I baked brioche before from Alice Medrich's book. There was a place my Aunt got ensaimada from the Philippines , I forgot the name (not goldilocks)...it was melt in your mouth delicious. anyway I do remember them turning out those ensaymadas in our bakeshop every morning...wish I paid attention to the entire process.
Now you have me craving one!

[Julie]

Holy wow! Those are some nice buns. And of course, congrats on the bun still in the oven, too! Can't wait to meet Son/Daughter of Lumpia!

[Jikuu]

Congrats, Marvin! Does this mean you'll have to rein in your humor, or spread it to your offspring? =P

[tarcs]

Anak ng Lumpia, naman! Congratulations!

[Katrina]

YAY for Baby Lumpia!!! :-D That's just wonderful news and I'm so excited for you two!

And WOW, I couldn't be more impressed with your ensaimada! For someone who doesn't really bake, much less be adept at bread-making, I find it amazing that you attempted ensaimada. Not only that, you even revised the recipe! I would NEVER fiddle with a baking recipe without mastering it first. How intrepid you are! And the fact that it turned out delicious makes it even more awesome! (Don't quote me, but I'm willing to bet it came out better than if you hadn't tweaked the original recipe.)

By the way, I've tried the ensaimada made from the Saveur recipe, and it's absolutely incredible. One of the best I've ever had. Read Marketman's post and the comments on the "hinayupak na ensaimada" to get an idea of how special it is.

[Allison Day]

Congratulations! That's so exciting, welcome to the soon-to-be new addition to the Lumpia family! :)

[elmomonster]

Baby Lumpia! HA! You know what Marvin...you're the only blogger that can actually and honestly make me laugh.

This part is precious:

I know, baking isn't exactly my forte here. I've never baked any sort of bread before, let alone Ensaimada. But I've never had a kid before either. I figure that if I can make a decent Filipino Ensaimada, I've got a decent chance at learning how to change a diaper--both activities involve a great deal of softened butter (insert rimshot here).

[Dee]

Congratulations, Lumpia Family! I hope your wife is handling the pregnancy well. At least we know you're feeding her well :)

[Krizia]

Aww CONGRATULATIONS! You made ensaimada! (congrats on the baby too, btw). Haha, jk. CONGRATULATIONS WITH YOUR NEW BUNS IN THE OVENS :) I'm so happy for you! In honor of your baby, I will attempt to make this ensaimada using your recipe instead of trekking all the way to NJ or Queens, NY because I'm lazy to make my own. If you can do it, I might be able to as well. You'll be a great father (wow what I would do for a pops who can cook pork in a plethora of ways and spoil me with ube, pandan and coconut laden desserts)!

P.S. I'm tempted to start a betting pool on whether your new bun in the oven is babae o lalaki. Anyone want in? Maybe a percentage of the funds can go to your baby's future college education ;) You gotta think of these things now!

[raissa]

Congratulations!!!

with regard to the ensaimadas - I prefer them bready than cakey. Another twist, after topping it with cheese, send it back to the oven for the cheese and sugar to melt. Now that is divine!

[_ts of [eatingclub] vancouver]

Congratulations! I have to admit, I'm a little fond of the moniker "Baby Lumpia". So cute. You should really use that! =)

This is making me want to make ensaimada; I've only ever had the Goldilock's variety, I think. I know; very deprived. This is my attempt to figure out how many semi-colons I can use in this comment; perhaps 3?

[Manggy]

Congratulations Marvin! If I recall clearly, you were supposed to e-mail me with the baby's gender. Humph! :) About the other bun (the one you made after you promised not to bake again, and I'm glad it's not a metaphor for baby-making), damn it looks perfect. Very well done. I didn't even know you had to layer the Filipino version too.

[Bong]

Aha!!! No wonder you haven't been blogging! Obviously, you've been doing some other kind of baking!

Congratulations!!!

[Susan]

So we both have something to look forward to the first week of August except I will be expecting my first "grand"child. Congratulations! Your blog may end up with more posts of recipes that are more baby friendly? I look forward to it as well as all your "funny, funny" experiences you will start having soon!

[rita]

CONGRATS on Baby Lumpia!!! august is coming up. good luck to your wife on her pregnancy.

looks like you did good on your Ensaimada. YAAY! i'll try your recipe. except for the coconut strings, everything else is easy to get here in germany.

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Congratulations Marvin and the Mrs! I wondered what kept you from blogging regularly, then suspected from your hints. Baby Lumpia will be well-fed indeed. And only you can get away with literal bun in the oven jokes. :D

[elle311]

Hi Marvin!

I knew it! When you said something wonderfully good was keeping you away from the blog, my first thought was something along the lines of a new addition ;) Congratulations and Best Wishes to you and your wife.

Wonderfully good indeed!!!

[Burnt Lumpia]

Thanks Mila. After making ensaimada, I’ve realized it’s not that hard, so I probably will be making them for years;)

Thanks Erin!

Thanks Marie. I’ll try not to bore/alienate anyone with too many baby stories:)

Mmmm. Ube ensaimada sound good, Darlene.

Spring break would be a great time to try making ensaimada, Lorena!

Your squeal of joy is much appreciated, Janice.

Thanks very much , Caroline. I hope the pics will be of use to you.

Thanks Joey! And don’t buy the ensaimada, make them yourself;)

Hello, socky! Thanks!

Thanks veron. If anyone can bake ensaimada, it’s you!

Thanks Julie! I’m glad you like my buns;)

I don’t think I’d rein in my humor at all Jikuu, at least not until the baby can talk and read;P

Thank you very much, Tarcs.

Thanks Katrina. I will definitely give the Saveur recipe a try now after reading that on Marketman. It must be super rich with all those egg yolks!

Thanks Allison!

I’m glad you also find amusement in poop jokes, elmo!

Thanks Dee. Yes, she is definitely being fed well.

Thanks very much Krizia! And thanks for thinking about the kid’s college fund;P

I also like bready ensaimada, raissa. And great idea about popping them back in the oven to melt the sugar and cheese!

I am in awe of your mastery of semicolons, ts;P

My bad, manggy. You’ll know soon enough!

Haha, thanks Bong!

Congratulations to you on your grandchild, Susan!

Thanks Rita!

Thanks WC! Hopefully I’ll be back to blogging regularly.

Thanks elle! I guess I’m not very good at being vague;)

[Efren]

Congratulations on Baby Lumpia! Yeah, you were pretty obvious that something like that was going to happen, but that's fantastic news.

The ensaimada looks awesome--I'm gonna have to make me some. Usually the ensaimada I have seems really dry but greasy, so I'll definitely have to try your recipe out.

[ahnjel]

omg!! congratulations! have fun, a baby will be the most expensive toy youll ever get... period! oh, im excited to hear the gender...
omedetou! felicitation! grats!

oh i love the ensaymada recipe by the way, my 1 yr old loves bread... shell love this as well.

[Dave Jones]

Congratulations on Baby Lumpia!
Brilliant photo story...The ensaimada looks good.

[Beth]

Looks good! I make ensaimadas once in a while, and I think that it should be more bready than cakey. To me ensaimada is just bread with lots of butter/margarine and eggs. Good job. I'd buy those if you sold them :D

[Grace]

Congrats to you!!! All the best! And I'm part of this baking group at work and have to share a recipe next month...I want to bake something Filipino so I might pick this up, but if you have any suggestions, let me know! We meet once a month on Fridays at 4:00 pm before we all lose our minds before the weekend, so something sweet is a must have! :) Congrats to you and the wife again!

[Arnold]

Congrats on your first ensaimada! (Oh...and Baby Lumpia, too!)

:)

[roland]

Good Job... er Great News Brootha!

[kit]

Congratulations Marvin! I think the baby is a boy. Your ensaymada looks really good for a first timer.

[missigorota]

congrats on the bun in the oven! may it be the apple pie of your eyes! :)

[Cynthia]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am thrilled for both of you!

And the buns! buttery good!

[beancounter]

Congratulations pare!

[beancounter]

I've got 4 kids of my own, the youngest only 3 months old...i'm looking forward to your posts on food for kids/babies...

[bagito]

Congrats, Marvin and missus! We look fwd to some "Baby Lumpia"-related posts as well (love that BL moniker!). If you can bake 'em luscious-looking ensaimadas, you can tackle the joys (and misadventures) of fatherhood. :-)

[Ana]

Congrats from sweden!!

Love the ensaymada, makes me feel like baking :)

again congrats!

p.s love ur kitchenaid

[mike]

Congrats! inuman na!

Great job with the ensaymada bro.

I grew up near a bakery back home in the Phils. where they make these big-ass ensaymadas. The leftovers are sliced and sprinked with sugar and baked once more and turned into "Biscotcho" eaten along side coffee, pretty much like a biscotti.

Oh, and here's your rimshot
http://www.instantrimshot.com

[foodhoe]

wow exciting news indeed! congratulations to you both and those buns sound fantastic.

[sam]

ok

[Burnt Lumpia]

Thanks Efren. And here I thought I was being all stealth-like;)

That's a great analogy ahnjel. I do see how kids can get expensive.

Thanks Dave.

Hehe, thanks beth. In this case, bread>cake.

Hi Grace. I think ensaimadas would be great to bake for your work function. They take a little time, but I'm sure everyone would love them.

Thanks Arnold!

Thanks Roland!

Good guess, kit! But I'm not confirming one way or the other yet;)

Thanks missigorota! You have a very unique and interesting blog!

Thanks so much, Cynthia.

You must have your hands full with 4 kids, beancounter!

Thanks bagito! I hope I can handle it.

Thanks Ana! We love our kitchenaid as well, and we actually use it on a regular basis!

Mike, that is the best link any has ever left for me. I spent a good 5 minutes saying cheesy jokes out loud, and then pressing that button. I will definitely be using that in future blog posts!

Thanks Foodhoe!

Ok, sam.

[Jude]

Congrats! Baby lumpia gender "under wraps?" Badump bump. :)
Sorry couldn't resist.

[Pat]

Congratulations on baby lumpia, Marvin and glad to see you're posting again!

Cheers,
pat

[White On Rice Couple]

We are so excited for you two and the baby lumpia! I wish there was something we could do to help with your professional ails. We miss you guys and you are always in our hearts. We'll have to get together soon. Todd.

[bernadette]

hey, Marvin!! Congrats on a happy post! (better late than never, because of zilch internet connection for a month). Baby lumpia ( the name is just so picturesque!---I can see how you will wrap the diapers around :-D) and successful ensaymada-making makes my day!!

[Jollibee web site]

I love this kind of bread,i always eat this especially during snacks.

-Ava

[Liz]

I tried your version, it was amazing. The first time I tried it, I got it right. My mom brought some of the ensaymada I made to work, and she said that her colleagues loved it. This recipe is definitely in my collection.

[justine]

wow those looks amazing!

[Leela@SheSimmers]

Found this post today. Hope it's not too late to offer my congratulations. Just a few more weeks now and the nursery will be occupied. What a joyous occasion that must be for your household.

[The Philippine Island]

it looks very delicious. I really love to eat ensaymada especially if it's still hot and fresh.

[stainless steel toaster ovens]

This is great. Thanks for the recipe, will give this a go on the weekend

[the red kitchen]

this looks so sarap! i've only been brave enough to bake pan de sal, but maybe this could be encouraging. Congrats on both!

[Elizabeth]

Thank you so much for this recipe! I was thrilled to reproduce something from childhood in my own family. I have NO Filipino resources/relatives around me. So, it was a total thrill to come across your tutorial! Congratulations on your new addition!

[Gale]

Maraming, maraming salamat for your instructions! Your kneading instructions saved my bread--the bread maker did not work--but the electric mixer sure did! Used rapid rise yeast so I didn't need to overnight the dough in the refrigerator. The tip on reversing the tray during baking was spot-on! Buns came out wonderfully! THANKS!

[kristine]

Looks really good. I've tried other ensaimada recipes before and failed. Either the dough was too heavy or too yeasty for my taste. Just a question though, is it necessary to use 2 packets of yeast? I just have reservations about using that much yeast because my dough might end up tasting a bit sour and yeast again. Thanks!