|| Pan ||
1 cup Evaporated Milk
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups bread flour
3 1/4 cups ap flour
1 teaspoon salt
|| Topping ||
1 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 drops americolor food coloring in Dusty Rose
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups ap flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon half and half
Warm the evaporated milk until it reaches 100-110 degrees and add in the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Set aside until it starts to foam on the top, about 10 minutes.
In a large standing mixer, place in the eggs and sugar. Pour in the yeast mixture and whisk everything together. Slowly stream in the melted butter until well combined. Place a bread dough hook on the standing mixer and add in the bread flour, ap flour, and salt. Turn on to medium speed to knead for a few minutes or until the mixture comes together. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but still stick to the bottom. If the dough isn’t pulling away from the sides, add ap flour one tablespoon at a time.
Continue to knead on medium speed for another 10 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and place into a clean, greased bowl turning over once to coat the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour.
Take the dough, cut it in half and continue to cut all the pieces in half until you are left with 16 pieces of dough. Take each dough and wrap the sides around to the bottom center of the dough and continue to do that until a clean ball forms. Place on a lined cookie sheet and cover with a clean towel while you make the topping.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
|| Topping ||
Cream the butter, powdered sugar, food coloring, almond extract, and vanilla extract together until creamy. About 1-2 minutes. Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix slowly until crumbly. Add in the half and half and mix vigorously until uniform. Turn out onto a clean work surface. Place parchment paper or wax paper on top and roll out until about 1/4th inch thick. Cut out with a 4-inch biscuit cutter. Cut out shell shapes on the top of the rounds and place on top of the dough balls pressing down on the sides.
Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until an internal thermometer reaches 190 degrees.
Keywords: concha, conchas, Mexican sweet bread, pan dulce
Find it online: https://www.oliveandartisan.com/pink-conchas-pan-dulce/