Panqué de Naranja Oaxaqueño

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •9 by 5 inch heavy aluminum or tin loaf pan (molde de hojalata)
• •Stand mixer with paddle attachment
• •Microplane or fine zester
• •Citrus juicer or hand reamer
• •Pastry brush for the glaze
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven and prepare the pan

   Heat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan generously with mantequilla, then line the bottom and long sides with a strip of parchment, leaving an overhang for lifting later. The Oaxacan panaderas use molde de hojalata, simple tin loaf pans worn dark from years of use. A heavy aluminum or steel pan works the same way. Avoid glass. Glass holds heat unevenly and the crust browns wrong.

2. 2

   Sift the dry ingredients

   Whisk the sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Sift it again if you want the crumb fine. This is a chemically leavened panqué, not a yeasted bread, and the leavening has to be distributed evenly through the flour or you will get tunnels and dense pockets. Asi se hace y punto.

   Mexican baking powder (Royal is the brand most panaderas use) is reliable. If your baking powder has been open for more than six months, replace it. Old polvo para hornear is the most common reason a panqué fails to rise.
3. 3

   Rub the zest into the sugar

   Place the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the orange zest. Using your fingertips, rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar turns pale orange and smells like the entire fruit. This step is non-negotiable. The oils in the zest live in the colored skin and they only release when you crush them into something. Skip this and your panqué will taste like orange juice, not like orange. There is a difference.

   Grate only the bright orange skin, never the white pith underneath. The pith is bitter and a panqué de naranja with bitter zest is a panqué de naranja ruined.
4. 4

   Cream the mantequilla and sugar

   Add the room-temperature mantequilla to the orange-scented sugar. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium-high for a full five minutes. Set a timer. The mixture should turn pale, almost ivory, and triple in volume. This is where the cake gets its lift. Mantequilla cold from the refrigerator will not aerate. Mantequilla too soft will collapse. You want it cool and pliable, the way it sits on a Tlacolula counter on a mild morning.

5. 5

   Add the eggs one at a time

   With the mixer on medium, add the eggs one at a time, beating for thirty seconds after each addition. Scrape the bowl down between eggs. The batter should look smooth and glossy. If it looks broken or curdled, the eggs were too cold. Stop, set the bowl over a pot of warm water for a minute, and beat again. The batter will come back together.

6. 6

   Combine the wet finishings

   In a separate bowl, whisk the orange juice, crema mexicana, and vanilla together. The crema is what makes this Oaxacan and not just any orange cake. It carries fat and acid in the same spoonful, and the crumb comes out tender and slightly tangy, the way a panqué from Mercado Alarii in Zaachila tastes.

7. 7

   Alternate dry and wet into the batter

   With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the orange juice and crema mixture in two additions. Begin and end with the flour. Mix only until each addition disappears. Stop the moment the last streak of flour is gone. Overmixed panqué turns rubbery. The gluten in wheat flour develops fast once liquid hits it, and a panqué is not a bolillo. You do not want chew here.

8. 8

   Pan and bake

   Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top with a wet spatula and run a knife down the center lengthwise, just barely. This little channel encourages the cake to crack down the middle the way a proper panqué should, in a clean even split. Bake on the middle rack for 50 to 55 minutes. The top should be deep golden, the crack should be set and dry, and a thin skewer pushed into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.

9. 9

   Make and apply the glaze

   While the cake is baking, combine the 1/4 cup orange juice and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely, about three minutes. Do not let it boil hard or it will turn syrupy. The moment the panqué comes out of the oven, leave it in the pan and brush the warm glaze over the top in three coats, letting each one soak in. The hot crumb drinks the glaze and locks the orange flavor in for days.

10. 10

    Cool and finish

    Let the panqué cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then lift it out using the parchment overhang and transfer to a wire rack. Cool to just barely warm before slicing. If using ajonjolí, scatter the toasted seeds across the glazed top while it is still tacky. Serve in thick slices alongside café de olla or a jícara of chocolate de agua. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The oranges are the recipe. Use thin-skinned juicing oranges, not the thick-skinned naranjas that are bred for shipping. If your market has Valencia or criollo oranges in season, those are what you want. If oranges are out of season and the ones at the market are dry and tasteless, do not make this cake. Wait. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling today, not what looks good on a Pinterest board.
• •Crema mexicana is not American sour cream and it is not crème fraîche, although crème fraîche is the closest substitute if you absolutely cannot find the real thing. Look for it at any tienda mexicana. Brands like Cacique and Lala are widely available. La Vaquita Sahuayo if you can find it.
• •Do not skip the glaze. The hot panqué drinks it the way dry earth drinks rain. Without it, the cake is good. With it, the cake stays moist for four days and the orange flavor doubles.

Advance Preparation

• •The panqué keeps wrapped in parchment and a clean cotton servilleta at room temperature for up to four days. The crumb actually improves after the first day as the glaze settles in.
• •The whole loaf freezes well for up to one month. Wrap tightly in plastic and then in foil. Thaw overnight on the counter, never in the microwave.
• •Zest the oranges and squeeze the juice the morning you bake. Pre-juiced and pre-zested orange loses its volatile oils within hours and the panqué will taste muted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)