Conchas-Mexican Pan de Dulce
My favorite childhood Mexican pan dulce(sweet bread), straight out of my oven!
Servings 12 Conchas
Ingredients
For Dough
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
- 1 cup warm milk or water at 110 to 115 degrees F
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup butter at room temperature I highly suggest using Irish Kerry Gold brand butter because it's pure butter with no water
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour, sifted
For Topping
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup shortening or butter at room temperature you will need an extra 1/4 c of shortening on the side to brush the tops of dough before adding candy topping
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- food coloring or unsweetened cocoa powder for baking for coloring candy paste
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the yeast, honey and milk (or water). Let sit for 10 minutes.
- In the stand mixer, add flour, sugar and salt. Mix lightly for a few seconds. When ready, mix in the yeast mixture, eggs and vanilla. Continue mixing until the dough begins to form. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed. Gradually mix in the butter, turning up the speed for a few minutes.
- The dough should become elastic and start to pull away from the sides of the stand mixer when ready. This may take 15to 20 minutes total time. Resist mixing in more flour. But know, the more flour you mix in, the denser the bread will be. After 20 minutes, gently pull the dough with your fingers. If it stretches without tearing right away, it's ready. Add some oil to the palms of your hands and transfer the dough to a flat work surface and shape into a large ball.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hour. It must rise in a warm place. I heat my oven to 200 degrees, then turn it off and place the covered bowl in the oven. It will proof faster.
- While the dough proofs, prepare the topping. Mix the powdered sugar with shortening and vanilla first. Then gradually mix in the flour. If it's too sticky, mix in a little more flour. If it's too dry work in a little more shortening.
- Once it proofs, punch down and divide into 12 balls. Place on greased or lined baking sheet. Press down lightly to flatten a little. Cover loosely with a lightweight kitchen towel as your prepare to add your candy topping.
- When ready, roll 2 tablespoons of topping into a ball and flatten into a round disc. You can use a tortilla press to do this step. Lightly brush a little softened shortening over tops of dough balls. Place flattened candy topping over conchas and carefully score with a knife, careful not to cut into bread.
- Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. The bottoms of bread should be golden brown. and lightly golden on top. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container with a slice of sandwich bread. This will help them stay moist for a couple of days. Best thing to do is to enjoy them while they are fresh.
Video
Notes
For Colored Topping: Add a few drops of food coloring after you have mixed the shortening with powdered sugar. Once happy with the color, gradually mix in the flour. For chocolate topping, mix in some unsweetened cocoa powder in place of food coloring.
Great tip for keeping the topping from falling off! Brush the dough balls with oil or shortening before placing the sweet topping on.
Works better! Add the sweet topping to the dough balls as soon as you shape them, not after they proof. Score gently and you will get a more classic concha look as it proofs and grows in size.
Add more flavor to your conchas! Mix in 3 tsps of orange zest, 1 tsp of anise seeds and 2 tbsps of fresh ground canela (cinnamon)to the dough in the stand mixer.
Great tip for keeping the topping from falling off! Brush the dough balls with oil or shortening before placing the sweet topping on.
Works better! Add the sweet topping to the dough balls as soon as you shape them, not after they proof. Score gently and you will get a more classic concha look as it proofs and grows in size.
Add more flavor to your conchas! Mix in 3 tsps of orange zest, 1 tsp of anise seeds and 2 tbsps of fresh ground canela (cinnamon)to the dough in the stand mixer.