Growing up, I remember excitedly counting down the days until my mother returned from a business trip. Yes, because I missed her terribly, but 7-year-old me was also drawn to the promise of what treats had come back with her.
Small wheels of mooncakes from Taiwan, filling rich with salted egg yolks and slivers of lotus seed. Squares of flaky, delicate mung bean pastries from Vietnam, each wrapped like a present. Teacakes from Scotland, with a heart of gooey molten marshmallow. Tokyo banana cakes from Japan – golden, fluffy and alluring. Pillow-soft Ensaymadas from the Philippines, tops lavished with butter, sugar, and (gasp!) grated cheese.
If you’re familiar with Spain and Spanish cuisine, the name ‘Ensaymada’ may ring a bell. Indeed, the Spanish have their own version of this treat, spelt Ensaimada. And it is from this flaky, coiled pastry that the Filipino ensaymadas descended from.
But while it’s Spanish ancestor is made from pastry, stretched paper thin, painted with lard and rolled up into a grand, impressive coil, the Filipino ensaymada is made of chunky, fluffy brioche, and butter stands in for the lard. Spanish ensaimadas are finished with a heavy dusting of confectioner’s sugar, while the Filipino version is usually slathered with butter, sugar (and, in fancier bakeries – buttercream) and topped with a tuft of grated queso de bola (Filipino edam – although, a mild cheddar works as well). I loved the ensaymada buns for the contrast they could bring – buttery brioche gorgeous against the twang of grated cheese. It tasted like magic.
Of course, ensaymadas are not vegan. And, thankfully, my mother has not brought back a batch since I’ve stopped having cheese/butter/eggs. But I do think of them (and often), taunted with the fact of their now-unattainable delights. Here are my vegan ensaymadas – just as soft, rich, and cotton-candy-esque as I remember. Instead of using a vegan cheddar, I whipped up a cream cheese frosting to lavish the mahogany swirls, and sprinkled on a hefty handful of demerara sugar. It’s difficult for me to get a good, tasty mild vegan cheese where I live. Good vegan cream cheeses are much easier to find (although if you have neither – make your own, or just leave it out). If you’re more fortunate in the vegan cheese department, leave the cream cheese out of the frosting and add some grated cheese to top the buns.
I took my buns one step further and added some ube. Ube is a purple yam, a common ingredient in Filipino desserts. I transformed this odd vegetable into a silky jam, which is rippled through the buttery dough. The first bite into one of the pillow-soft, cloud-like vegan ensaymadas, is a moment of pure rapture.
Note – If you don’t have ube, use purple sweet potato (or regular sweet potato!) instead. Equally, just leave out the ube jam, and brush the brioche dough with some melted butter when you would add the jam.
Vegan ensaymadas make a great accompaniment to hot chocolate, best eaten in the heavy, languid hours of the afternoon. But as my old morning habit would attest, they make a great breakfast as well.
- 1 cup grated ube, firmly packed (220g)
- ¾ cup soy milk
- ½ cup light coconut milk
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup aquafaba
- ¾ cup light coconut milk
- 4 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- Pinch of salt
- 2½ cups packed all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, softened
- ¼ cup vegan cream cheese
- 2-3 tbsp confectioner's sugar
- ½ cup grated vegan cheese, optional*
- First, make the jam. Add all the ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour this out into a large saucepan and bring the liquid to a low simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the bottom from catching and burning. When it looks reduced, thicker, and about half it's initial volume, pour it out into a container and leave it to set in the fridge overnight.
- Place the aquafaba and coconut milk on the counter to come to room temperature before using. Alternatively, heat them both up in a saucepan over a very low heat until lukewarm. Do not heat them up too much though or this would kill the yeast.
- Place the warm coconut milk and aquafaba into a large bowl or stand mixer, and stir in the sugar, butter, and yeast. Leave for 5-10 minutes, or until frothy.
- Add the salt, and flour, and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Pour this out onto a well-floured countertop and knead for 5-7 minutes until it becomes a smooth, elastic ball (or knead in a stand mixer). Pop it back into the bowl and cover. Leave this is a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- When the dough is done proofing, grease 12 metal tart moulds (or grease a 12-hole cupcake pan - line if with cupcake wrappers if your cupcake mould tends to stick).
- Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a well-floured countertop. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
- Work with one portion at a time. Roll it out into a rectangle or oval, about ¼ inches thick. Spread a thin layer of ube jam on the surface, leaving a ¼ inch border (if you aren't using ube, just paint with some melted vegan butter). Roll the dough up from the longer edge, like a cinnamon roll. Pinch to seal the ends of the log, as well as the seam down the whole log. Roll it out a little so it elongates (about 6-7 inches long), then coil it up, and pop it into a greased mould. HERE is a video showing you how to roll it up.
- Repeat for the rest of the dough, then cover them again and let it proof a further 15-30 minutes, until puffy. Preheat the oven to 170C during the second rise.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes in the mould before removing them.
- Whisk up the ingredients for the glaze, and smear a little over each roll when they are ever-so-slightly warm, so the little bit of heat melts the glaze a little bit. If using grated cheese, add some to the top of each bun, using the glaze as a glue.
- Enjoy!
Wow, these look incredible! Can’t wait to try making these 🙂
Yay 🙂 Let me know what you think of them! x
This looks so good! Thank you for sharing the nice recipe!