I have conchas to share with you today!
These babies were a labor of love. I started developing the recipe for back in August, and because they need a good amount of attention, I only got to test them a few times. There are a few things I learned, and I’m happy to share the knowledge so you can easily make these at home.
One of the more important things I realized, especially after making pan de muerto last year, is that you need to take your time with bread, don’t take any shortcuts and don’t rush your process. Give the yeast plenty of time to proof, and give your dough enough time to really rise.
The quality of your ingredients also makes a difference. Fresh ground spices will give you a more flavorful bread. I like to use the milling blade from my nutribullet to grind down cinnamon, and cloves, and then I just use a microplane to grate fresh nutmeg. If you happen to have any vanilla bean paste, vanilla beans, or high quality vanilla extract, use it instead of imitation vanilla extract. Be sure to keep imitation vanilla out of the streusel though or you’ll end up with a something that tastes like play-doh. I used imitation extract the first few times and It took me a while to realize it was really messing with the taste.
When it comes to equipment, you can easily score the streusel topping with a knife, but if you’d like a concha cutter, you can purchase the one I used here. I also suggest using food coloring gel instead of liquid food coloring if you decide to add some color to your topping, as the liquid will make your topping really sticky and you’ll need a lot of it to get good color payoff.
I know they are a bit of a process but I promise they’re so worth it! Be sure to share your pictures with me if you happen to make them!
Nos vemos pronto!
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