The ensaimada is a pastry product from

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

, Spain. It is a common cuisine eaten in Southwestern Europe, Latin America and the Philippines. The first written references to the Mallorcan ensaïmada date back to the 17th century. At that time, although wheat flour was mainly used for making

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

, there is evidence that this typical pastry product was made for festivals and celebrations. The ''ensaïmada de Mallorca'' is made with strong

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

, water,

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, eggs,

mother dough A ferment (also known as bread starter) is a fermentation starter used in ''indirect'' methods of bread making. It may also be called mother dough. A ferment and a longer fermentation in the bread-making process have several benefits: there is ...

and a kind of reduced pork

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
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named '' saïm'' (from the Arabic ''shahim'' (شحيم), meaning 'fat'). In Mallorca and

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

there is a sweet called greixonera made with ensaïmada pieces left over from the day before.

Variants

The Balearic Islands

Among the variants of ensaimada the most common are: * ''Llisa'' (literally ''plain'') with no extra ingredient. * ''

Cabell d'àngel Cabell d'àngel ( ''cabello de ángel''; literally "angel's hair") is a transparent threaded jam made from Siam pumpkin (''Cucurbita ficifolia'') pulp and white sugar. It originated in Mallorca but its use has spread to the rest of Spain and ...

'' (literally ''angel's hair''), the stringy orange strands found inside pumpkins are cooked with sugar to make a sweet filling that is rolled inside the dough. * ''Tallades'' (literally ''sliced'') covered with sobrassada and

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

, obtaining a bittersweet taste. It is typical of Carnival days, just before

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, when meat (including lard and sobrassada) are not supposed to be eaten. * ''Crema'' (literally ''cream'') with cream made with eggs. * Filled with sweet cream, chocolate or turrón paste. * Covered with

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

The Philippines

Ensaymada from -ValeriosBakery (15379638761)

The Philippines also adopted the Mallorcan ensaïmada (commonly spelled ''ensaymada'' in Philippine languages). As a Spanish colony for over 300 years, the Philippine variant has evolved over the centuries and is perhaps one of the most common delicacies in the country. The localized pastry is a brioche baked with butter instead of

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the o ...

and topped with grated cheese and sugar and can be found in almost all neighborhood bakeshops. Other versions are topped with buttercream, salted egg slices, and a specially aged type of Edam cheese called ''queso de bola''. The ensaymada of Pampanga features a very rich dough with layers of butter and cheese. It is customary to eat ensaymada with hot chocolate made with native

tablea ''Tsokolate'' (), also spelled ''chocolate'', is a native Filipino thick hot chocolate drink. It is made from ''tabliya'' or ''tablea'', tablets of pure ground roasted cacao beans, dissolved in water and milk. Like in Spanish and Mexican versi ...

during the Philippine Christmas season. Due to its popularity, bakeshop chains such as

Goldilocks "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

Red Ribbon The red ribbon, as an awareness ribbon, is used as the symbol for the solidarity of people living with HIV/AIDS, and for the awareness and prevention of drug abuse and drunk driving. In Canada the red ribbon represents Canadians with Multiple ...

Julie's Julie’s is a biscuit brand sold in 80 countries across Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It was founded in 1984 by Su Chin Hock in Malacca, Malaysia. It has been marketed as Julie’s since 1985. Its products include Julie’s Peanut Butter Sand ...

and Kamuning Bakery offer ensaymada with their own recipes.

Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, another Spanish colony until 1898, the ensaïmada is called ''pan de mallorca'' and is traditionally eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.

References

External links