Ensaymada are a culinary legacy of colonial times. With their “ensaïmada,” the Spanish occupying forces brought a rich yeast-raised pastry to “las islas Filipinas” that achieved great popularity among the native inhabitants.
Over the years, the recipe and preparation method have been modified, and ensaymada are now a Philippine speciality in their own right, in which sweet and often savory ingredients blend to create a pleasant taste experience.
All Filipinos have an opinion about what their favorite ensaymada should be like. There are the traditionalists who will only tolerate melted butter and granulated sugar on the crust of their favorite roll. And there are those who like to experiment and dare to try all manner of different fillings and toppings. But whichever version is preferred, the basis of every ensaymada is a yeast-raised wheat dough with a high sugar, fat and egg content.
Traditional spiral shape
The traditional hallmark of an ensaymada is its characteristic shape: the yeast pastries look like snails or spirals. In this laborious production method, which is now found mainly in the realm of artisan bakeries, the proofed yeast dough is portioned, rolled into strips and wound into a kind of knot. At industrial bakeries, the preparation method is less complex: the dough pieces usually are rounded and then baked in small, corrugated brioche molds.
The yeast doughs must be capable of excellent oven rise, because consumers expect their favorite pastry to have a large volume and a soft, fluffy, succulent crumb.
After baking, the product — sometimes known as a “Filipino brioche” — is simply spread with fat and dipped in sugar. A savory note may be added by coating the surface thickly with grated cheese such as cheddar or queso de bola.
Creative diversity
Besides these two standard recipes, numerous imaginative modifications exist. The absolute eye-catcher is “ube ensaymada.” Ube is a sweet spread made from yams, with an intensive purple color. Bakers either add this jam during preparation of the dough to color the whole product, or they use it as a filling or topping. Other trendy variants include frostings made with butter cream, dulce de leche (caramel cream) or langka (sweetened jackfruit).
In addition, the different regions have culinary specialities of their own. Ensaymada from the Pampanga province may have a diameter of about 20 centimeters. They are cut like a pizza and often covered lavishly with cheese and ham. In the southeastern Bulacan province, consumers like it best when the rolls are decorated with slices of salted duck eggs.
Sweet snack for a little break
Eating is the declared favorite activity of many Filipinos — and sweet foods are an absolute “must” on the daily menu. Most consumers treat themselves to their Philippine brioche with coffee in the early afternoon. But the sweet and savory rolls also make a welcome snack in the midday break or on the way home from work, and these are to be found on every street corner.
The small, family-owned bakeries usually offer at least the classic variant with butter or margarine and sugar, but the larger the establishment, the wider is the selection. And an ensaymada rarely crosses the shop counter alone. Since ensaymada are also a popular gift to take home, consumers tend to buy a cardboard box containing six or even 12 such rolls.
The following is a typical ensaymada recipe:
Ensaymada (special) Baker’s %
- All purpose flour 100.0
- Water 50.0
- Refined sugar 22.0
- Whole egg 10.0
- Milk powder 4.0
- Instant Yeast 1.5
- Salt 1.5
- Butter 10.0
Complex demands on flour quality
Considerable skill and instinct are needed for processing an ensaymada yeast dough, since the lavish addition of butter or margarine gives the dough a sticky consistency. Moreover, the high sugar, fat and egg content tends to hinder adequate volume formation. So, bakeries give special attention to dough processing. Both industrial and artisan bakeries mostly use the no-time dough method. Only a few use the straight dough method that allows the dough to rest for about two hours. In both cases the dough must have an extremely extensible gluten network, good gas retention capacity and high fermentation stability.
To make Philippine brioches, bread flour or all-purpose flour is used. Local mills generally grind high-performance hard wheat from the United States or Canada for this flour quality. Where flour treatment is concerned, most bakeries have so far confined themselves to standardization with ascorbic acid, alpha-amylase, hemicellulase and glucose oxidase, for example.
But it is likely that greater adjustments in respect of flour quality and functionality will have to be made in the future, for many mills and bakeries already are finding themselves faced with heavy cost pressures — and enzymatic flour improvement plays a key role in increasing the profitability of production.
Balancing wheat mixtures with costs
Where mills are concerned, for example, considerable cost-saving potential lies in adjusting the mixture ratio of the grain varieties used.
Even with top-grade flours, a significant proportion of the expensive hard wheat can be replaced with cheaper soft wheat lots. If highly effective enzyme systems are used to compensate for the lower protein content and weaker gluten properties of the soft wheat, it is possible to achieve a 10% to 20% substitution of hard wheat with soft wheat without loss of quality, depending on the initial ratio.
Optimizing quality with low budget
For the baking industry, modifying the recipe may prove to be a viable way of cutting costs. Like many of their colleagues around the globe, Philippine bakers are having to contend with sharp price rises for classic baking ingredients like sugar, eggs and vegetable or animal fats. But these additional costs can only be passed on to the consumer to a limited extent since most Filipinos are extremely price sensitive.
In practice, therefore, the solution is sometimes to reduce the proportion of butter, sugar or egg in the recipe. However, these raw materials are important flavor carriers and have a significant effect on the crumb structure of the baked product.
Through an accompanying improvement of the flour quality and the addition of emulsifiers, enzyme-based dough strengtheners and other active ingredients, it is nevertheless possible to ensure that the characteristic product attributes of ensaymada are maintained even in the low-budget sector.
Shelf life: A hot topic
A further field of applications in enzymatic flour improvement is extension of the shelf life of the products — an issue that has taken on central importance in the Philippine milling and baking industry.
The background is changes in the buying behavior of consumers. The daily ritual of a trip to the market and the panaderia is a thing of the past as many families now stock up with everything they need just once a week at a supermarket or shopping mall. A box of ensaymada is bought and stored in the refrigerator at home. But practical as keeping a stock may be, in the case of yeast pastries, lengthy storage in the refrigerator inevitably results in loss of quality. The crust and crumb dry out, and the bite becomes tough and leathery.
This is yet another challenge to which mills and bakeries must find innovative solutions. The key to a longer shelf life lies in delaying retrogradation. With selected compounds consisting of enzymes, plant fibers and hydrocolloids, it is possible to inhibit recrystallization of the gelatinized starch so lastingly that ensaymada retain their succulent chewing feeling for up to a week.
The enzymatic toolbox
MC Mühlenchemie offers a number of innovative solutions that enable mills and bakeries to reconcile economic aspects with the requirements of quality. Although a thorough analysis of the flour in a particular case is essential to develop a tailor-made upgrade, some general recommendations can be given for enhancing the quality of rich yeast doughs.
The following is an overview of the most common problems and possible solutions regarding ensaymada:
Problem: Slack and sticky dough
Cause: Flour low in gluten; too much water; rich recipe, containing high amounts of sugar, fat and egg.
Solution: Use stronger flour and increase oxidation by using ascorbic acid (Elco P-100) and glucose oxidase (Alphamalt SI Gloxy 31001) for better dough drying effect; reduce the amount of water in the formulation; improve the water absorption of the dough by adding MCbest WA.
Problem: Poor proofing stability
Cause: Proofing humidity too high; too much water; heavy, rich dough; doughs are weak
Solution: Reduce proofer humidity; reduce water; increase oxidation in flour (ascorbic acid: Elco P-100 and/or glucose oxidase: Alphamalt SI Gloxy 31001); add enzyme-based dough strengthener (Mulgazym SFX and Mulgazym DFX).
Problem: Long proofing time
Cause: Low proofing temperature; using low sugar yeast, rich recipe, not enough yeast
Solution: Adjust proofing temperature; use a sufficient amount of high sugar yeast.
Problem: Blisters
Cause: Weak dough; dough temperature is too high
Solution: Add enzyme-based dough strengthener (e.g. Mulgazym SFX, Mulgazym DFX); add lipases (e.g. Alphamalt EFX Tera); adjust proofer settings
Problem: Low volume
Cause: Not enough yeast; heavy, rich doughs; weak dough
Solution: Increase yeast dosage; use stronger flour or adjust flour treatment; add enzyme-based dough strengthener (e.g. Mulgazym SFX, Mulgazym DFX), add enzymes (hemicellulases such as Alphamalt HC 14111 and amylases such as Alphamalt VC 5000).
Problem: Large, open crumb
Cause: Over fermented dough; too much yeast; weak dough
Solution: Optimize the proofing time; adjust yeast dosage; add lipases (e.g. Alphamalt EFX Tera) for finer crumb.
Problem: Loss of freshness during storage
Cause: Staling of the starch
Solution: Improve water binding in the dough; prolong the softness and elasticity of the crumb with fresh keeping enzymes (e.g. Alphamalt Fresh 30303).
Problem: High wheat prices
Solution: Use lower cost flour and improve flour treatment by using dough strengtheners (e.g. Mulgazym DFX).
Problem: Sugar reduction desired
Cause: Increase of sugar prices
Solution: Add enzyme-based sugar replacers (e.g. Omnizym Sugar Replacer); add artificial sweetener.
Sven Mattutat is a product manager with Mühlenchemie. He may be reached at smattutat@stern-wywiol-gruppe.de for more information on this topic.
