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Ensaimada

Ensaïmada de Mallorca (Sourdough Method)

3022kcal
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Prep 45 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Total 23 hours 10 minutes
Ensaïmada is a spectacular, traditional sweet bread from Mallorca that sits beautifully between a flaky puff pastry and a rich, pillowy sweet brioche. While the most traditional variations rely heavily on pork lard to achieve their delicate, paper-thin layers, this recipe swaps it out for butter—delivering an intensely rich, melt-in-your-mouth pastry that is finished with a heavy dusting of powdered sugar.
Servings 1 Ensaimada
Cuisine Spanish

Ingredients

The Sourdough Starter Levain (Built 6 Hours Before)
  • 10 g Sourdough starter culture
  • 30 g Water
  • 30 g Bread flour
The Enriched Pastry Dough
  • 250 g Bread flour (100%)
  • 80 g Water (32%)
  • 60 g Active sourdough starter levain (24% - From the stage above)
  • 1 Large egg (approx. 50g / 20%)
  • 80 g Sugar (32%)
  • 5 g Salt (2%)
  • 25 g Soft unsalted butter (10% - Or authentic pork lard, softened completely to room temperature)
  • 1 g Dry instant yeast (Optional helper pinch used strictly to reduce natural sourdough sourness)
The Laminating Fill & Golden Bakery Dusting
  • 200 g Soft unsalted butter (Or pork lard, completely softened for spreading)
  • Powdered sugar (Reserved strictly for a heavy decorative dust finish)

Equipment

Method

Day 1 – Levain Setup, Dough Enrichment, and Lamination
  1. 8:00 AM: In a small glass jar, dissolve your 10g of starter culture into 30g of water. Whisk together cleanly, then stir in 30g of bread flour. Mix thoroughly, cover loosely, and let it ferment at room temperature 74–78°F (23–26°C) for roughly 6 hours until it at least triples in volume.
  2. 2:00 PM – The Autolyse: In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the 80g of water, 60g of active starter, 1 large egg, 80g of sugar, and the optional 1g of dry yeast. Whisk together, then dump all 250g of bread flour on top. Mix until a shaggy mass forms with no dry spots, cover, and let autolyse for 30 minutes.
  3. 2:30 PM: Attach your dough hook. Mix the dough on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes (or on a KitchenAid mixer on speed 3 for 3 to 4 minutes) until cohesive. Sprinkle in the 5g of salt and mix for 2 more minutes until a firm ball gathers around the hook.
  4. The Fat Incorporation: Turn your machine to high speed and drop in the 25g of soft butter (or lard). Knead continuously for 7 to 10 minutes until the fat incorporates seamlessly and the dough clears the sides of the bowl beautifully. Cover and let rest for 1 hour at a warm 76–80°F (24–28°C). Perform exactly 1 round of structural stretch-and-folds during this rest.
  5. 3:30 PM – The Paper-Thin Hand Stretch: Lightly coat a very large workspace with a neutral, flavorless oil. Place the dough in the center and use your hands to flatten it out until it is roughly 4 to 5 mm thick.
  6. Gently spread all 200g of your ultra-soft laminating butter across the entire surface of the dough sheet. Critical Guardrail: You must spread the butter onto the dough before you stretch it thin. Attempting to apply heavy butter to an already stretched, paper-thin sheet will slice and rip the delicate structure apart.
  7. Once the butter is evenly spread, wet your hands and gently pull the dough from the center outward, stretching it across your counter as paper-thin and translucent as possible.
  8. Starting from one edge, roll the thin dough sheet up tightly into a long, dense rope. Cover the rope and let it sit undisturbed for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
  9. 4:00 PM – The Snail Spiral Shape: Gently pull and stretch the rolled rope lengthwise until it becomes longer, evenly shaped, and tapers down to roughly 2 to 3 cm in diameter.
  10. Line a large tray with parchment paper. Arrange the elongated rope into a classic coiled snail shape (spiral), ensuring you leave a clear 2 cm gap of empty space between each spiral layer to allow room for growth.
  11. Cover loosely and let proof at a warm room temperature of 74–78°F (23–26°C) for 3 hours.
  12. 7:00 PM: Move the tray into a cooler room or proofing area sitting at a steady 64–68°F (18–20°C) and allow it to proof slowly overnight until the next morning.
Day 2 – Double-Volume Bake & Sugar Coating
  1. Next Morning: Verify that your ensaïmada has completely expanded, filled in its empty spiral gaps, and at least doubled in total volume. (If it still looks dense or tight, move the tray to a warmer spot for 2 to 3 hours to finish puffing).
  2. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
  3. Slide the tray onto the middle rack and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes until the expanding flaky layers turn a uniform, gorgeous golden brown.
  4. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely. Using a fine-mesh sieve, heavily dust the entire surface with a thick, snowy layer of powdered sugar before slicing into it!

Nutrition

Calories3022kcalCarbohydrates286gProtein45gFat192gSaturated Fat118gPolyunsaturated Fat10gMonounsaturated Fat49gTrans Fat7gCholesterol655mgSodium451mgPotassium479mgFiber7gSugar81gVitamin A5873IUVitamin C0.2mgCalcium133mgIron4mg

Notes

  • Substituting Butter for Traditional Authenticity: While this formula utilizes 200g of soft unsalted butter to make ingredient shopping simple, authentic Spanish ensaïmadas historically rely on pork lard (known locally in Mallorca as saïm, which gives the pastry its name). If you have access to high-quality leaf lard, you can substitute it dynamic-for-dynamic with the butter weight to capture that traditional flavor profile and texture.
  • The Non-Negotiable Butter Shingling Rule: Pay close attention to the sequencing in step 6. Beginners often try to stretch the dough thin first and then smear the heavy butter on top. This mistake will catch on the delicate skin and tear the expanding gluten sheets apart. Spreading the soft fat across the thicker 5mm sheet allows the butter to slide effortlessly alongside the dough as you stretch it to paper-thin transparency.
  • The Importance of the 2 cm Expansion Gap: When coiling your long rolled rope into the signature snail design on your baking tray, do not wrap it tightly against itself. The dough needs plenty of room to expand during its long, slow 14-hour overnight proof and explosive oven spring. Leaving a clear 2 cm air buffer between each ring ensures the interior layers steam and puff up beautifully without squeezing into a dense, gummy center.
  • Why the Helper Pinch of Yeast is Included: Including a tiny 1g pinch of dry commercial yeast alongside your active sourdough levain serves an important flavor purpose. Because this pastry undergoes a long, multi-stage proofing process over 24 hours, the commercial yeast works as a gentle accelerator. This prevents the dough from developing a sharp, acidic, sour tang—preserving that sweet, buttery profile characteristic of a classic European bakery pastry.

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