Corbatas de Hojaldre Capitalinas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy rolling pin
• •Parchment paper
• •Two rimmed baking sheets
• •Pastry brush
• •Sharp knife or pastry wheel

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix the flour, salt, and one teaspoon sugar in a wide bowl. Stir the cold water with the lime juice, then add it gradually until the dough comes together in a rough, shaggy mass. Do not knead it smooth. Hojaldre wants structure, not toughness. Pat it into a square, wrap it, and chill for 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Prepare the butter

   Lay the cold butter slabs between two sheets of parchment and pound them with a rolling pin into a 6-inch square. Keep the edges straight. The butter should bend without cracking and stay cold to the touch. If it shines or smears, it is too warm. Put it back in the refrigerator.

3. 3

   Lock in the butter

   Roll the chilled dough into a 10-inch square. Set the butter square in the center like a diamond, then fold the dough corners over it until the butter is fully enclosed. Pinch the seams shut. Flour lightly, then roll into a long rectangle about 8 by 18 inches. Work with confidence, not violence.

4. 4

   Fold and chill

   Fold the rectangle in thirds like a letter. Turn it 90 degrees, roll again to the same size, and fold in thirds again. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat this roll-and-fold process two more times, chilling 30 minutes between rounds. These folds are the layers. Skip them and you are not making hojaldre.

   If butter breaks through the dough, dust that spot with flour and keep going. If the dough fights you or shrinks back, it is warm or tired. Chill it.
5. 5

   Cut the corbatas

   Heat the oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Roll the finished dough on a sugared surface into a rectangle about 10 by 16 inches and 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle the top with more sugar and press it in gently with the rolling pin. Cut into sixteen strips, each about 1 inch wide and 10 inches long.

6. 6

   Twist the bowties

   Pinch each strip lightly at the center and twist once, making the shape of a corbata, a bowtie. Set them on the baking sheets with space between each one. Beat the egg white with one tablespoon water and brush only a thin layer over the top. Scatter a final pinch of sugar over each pastry.

7. 7

   Bake until crisp

   Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the corbatas are puffed, golden at the ridges, and deeply crisp at the sugared edges. Do not pull them pale. Pale hojaldre tastes like flour and regret. Let them cool on the pan for five minutes, then move to a rack so the bottoms stay crisp.

Chef Tips

• •For the best butter, look for a high-fat unsalted butter, 82 percent if you can find it. Mexican panaderías often use margarina para hojaldre because it is stable and cheap. At home, butter gives better flavor, but you must keep it cold.
• •The lime juice does not make the pastry taste like lime. It relaxes the dough just enough to roll cleanly. My mother wrote that trick in the margin of her notebook. She was right.
• •Corbatas are a good use for puff pastry scraps. Stack scraps, never ball them up. Roll gently, sugar, cut, and twist. Waste is bad cooking.
• •Serve them with café de olla or hot milk. No frosting, no chocolate drizzle, no costume. Sugar and hojaldre are enough.

Advance Preparation

• •The laminated dough can be made one day ahead and refrigerated tightly wrapped. Roll, sugar, cut, and bake the next day.
• •Unbaked twisted corbatas can be frozen on a sheet pan, then stored in a bag for up to one month. Bake from frozen at 400F, adding 3 to 5 minutes.
• •Baked corbatas keep for two days in an airtight tin. They soften in humid weather, so re-crisp them in a 325F oven for 5 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 45g)