mallorca sweet bread... mmm... mmm... good

so... mallorca sweet bread... ever hear of it... it seems that most people only know of this delectable sweet from the supreme ruler of the universe, starbucks... and i hate to admit it, that's where i first came in contact with this delicious pastry... but this sweet treat isn't a starbucks creation... this is a traditional puerto rican pastry... a breakfast icon of sorts... eaten either sweet (slathered in butter and powdered sugar) or savory (sliced and stuffed with thick slices of ham, and melted cheese)...

this sweet, fluffy, eggy, almost bricohe like bread came to puerto rico via the spanish island of majorca... look at that, i'm giving you a small history and geography lesson... but enough education... lets get on to the recipe... after doing some looking around, i came across the recipe i wanted to use... from the blog "always order dessert", it's a very tasty blog, go give it a look!

so... here's the goods:
ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
3/4 cup white sugar
5 to 6 cups all purpose flour, divided, plus more for dusting
1 cup lukewarm milk
1 cup lukewarm water
6 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, scraped (optional)
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 teaspoon salt

directions:
1. in the base of your electric mixer, combine the warm milk, warm water, yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of flour and whisk well... leave to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes... the mixture should have risen and appear frothy and bubbly after the rise
2. whisk in the egg yolks, vanilla, and the remaining flour until it is all incorporated... whisk in the salt and 1/2 of the melted butter... cover the bowl with an oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour until doubled
3. liberally dust your surface and your hands with flour to prevent the dough from sticking... empty the dough out onto the surface and sprinkle it all over with flour... use your hands to knead it slightly... it will be soft and will feel almost liquid in the center, but you should be able to handle it by keeping your hands floured
4. divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll each portion out into a snake about 12 inches long...use a pastry brush to coat the dough snake with a generous brush of melted butter, then coil into a little roll and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
5. space the rolls out evenly, only six to a sheet so they have room to rise
6. when you're done rolling them out, brush with a little more butter and let them rise until they have doubled once again... at this time, preheat your oven to 375
7. when the breads are done rising, brush once again with the remaining butter, and bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden and puffy
8. cool on a rack and dust liberally with powdered sugar just before serving

don't mind my wrinkly, unpolished and unmanicured fingers here... just look at the fluffy inside... mmm...
these were so good as a breakfast treat along with a big ol' cup of coffee... great way to start the morning

happy baking everyone!