Spanish Bread is a popular ‘merienda’ or afternoon snack in the Philippines. It has nothing to do with the Spanish bread of Spain (Pan de Horno) except maybe that they share the same form (rolled) but the Filipino version of Spanish bread has a sweet buttery filling in it!
Spanish bread has been on my list, like forever, but I made it a priority, now that two lovely ladies have been asking for it! This is for you Espie and Belle!
Making the bread itself was no biggie. I read a lot of different recipes for Spanish bread and they all have the same ingredient for the bread, which is similar to Pandesal, so I just used my own recipe for that. However, it took me four batches to finally get the filling right. That is, at least, my idea of what a Spanish bread filling should be. Sweet (but not overly sweet) and buttery with a bit of a texture to it and moist.
Making the bread itself was no biggie. I read a lot of different recipes for Spanish bread and they all have the same ingredient for the bread, which is similar to Pandesal, so I just used my own recipe for that. However, it took me four batches to finally get the filling right. That is, at least, my idea of what a Spanish bread filling should be. Sweet (but not overly sweet) and buttery with a bit of a texture to it and moist.
The first batch,I followed what most recipe online uses for a filling: simply mixing butter, sugar and bread crumbs together and spreading it to the dough before baking. I am not sure if it is the kind of breadcrumbs I used, because they turned out having a dry filling. Maybe it absorbed too much of the butter? But then how come most of it oozed out into the pan while baking, which seems to be a common problem with all the online recipes I found (say the comments).
The second batch was almost the same, only with different measurements plus it adds powdered milk to it. The taste was good though.
The third batch, I only used butter and brown sugar. I also smeared some butter on the center of the dough before adding the filling mixture. The outcome…slightly moist filling(check) but there was no texture at all. Just a sticky syrup that also dries out when the Spanish breads get cold, like standing for some hours. I recommend this recipe if you are eating them immediately after baking.
So after squeezing my brains out for some ideas, I decided to make an experiment. I cooked the filling!!! Yup, I cooked the filling before spreading it to the dough of my Spanish bread! It is an additional step you will not find in any of the other recipes online (believe me I read them all, or at least those I found). But, for me, it was a necessary step to have a moist, textured, no-oozing-while-baking filling!
The filling was brownish, not yellowish like ones I see on bakeries back home. I reckon that is from using butter (and brown sugar) instead of margarine. I would try the margarine version next time and give you an update!
