I always have one eye on the lookout for the holy grail of ensaimadas, particularly in Spain, so I passed by the La Mallorquina bakeshop at Puerta del Sol twice with more than just a slight interest. Readers had mentioned this chain of bakeshops a few weeks back, when I asked for Madrid tips, and this particular branch seemed to be doing a rather brisk business with dozens of customers at any one time.

This branch had a large pastry shop on the first floor and a cafe on the second floor. We just dropped by to purchase a few baked goodies to enjoy back at the hotel… I should mention now that I have been almost disparaging about the Mallorcan style ensaimadas I have tried before, so I did approach this with some scepticism…

Their ensaimadas were individual sized portions rather than the large multi-serving version, and at 1 Euro a piece, seemed like a bargain. We got an ensaimada and Mrs. MM and the Teen got some other goodies. Service was brusque and abrupt, totally in line with the Madrid service experience thus far…

Considering that the ensaimada cost LESS than a typical commercial pouffy Manila ensaimada, I must say I was impressed by the packaging… waxed paper and tied with string. But as with previous experiences with Mallorcan ensaimadas, I was simply not impressed. I really think we need to rename our own versions in the Philippines, because they are not only dissimilar from their roots, they are far better. :)

This one was light and airy, without the creme or paste that sometimes is baked into the pastry. The powdered sugar provided sweetness to an otherwise simply boring piece of bread. They definitely used lard and not butter, and hardly any egg yolks at all. It was what it was. And is probably perfectly good for breakfast with a strong cup of coffee or hot chocolate. But I should simply stop comparing the originals with our own Pinoy versions. We have definitely evolved ensaimada in a good way… at least for our best examples of ensaimada with lots of egg yolks, butter or lard, and the even the cheese on top that are best for merienda than a light breakfast. Now, if only we could come up with a clever new name for this baked good, and while acknowledging where the inspiration came from, make a clean break from the Spanish/Mallorcan ensaimada. Then get millions of Pinoys to agree calling it by its new name. Suggestions, anyone? Let’s see if readers can’t do the almost impossible and rename a popular baked good. :)

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It doesn’t really seem like the holidays unless we produce at least one generous batch of ensaimadas in the Marketman household. One year we gave them away as Christmas presents and we baked over 100 of them which was rather exhausting, so never again on that scale… But New Year’s Day had come and gone and several queso de bolas were still in the fridge, screaming to melt into and top an ensaimada, so we finally baked up a batch for a merienda a few days later…

Our guest of honor was an old classmate from highschool who has lived in France for 17 years doing volunteer work for a Christian theatre group. She grew up in Manila and still comes to visit family. We made a batch of Marc Medina’s “hinayupak” ensaimadas with a few alterations to the recipe and they turned out absolutely wonderful. These are less work than the recipe I featured here, but the results were still delicious. We served them with tea, coffee or hot chocolate and to our surprise, it was the first time our friend had ever tasted a homemade ensaimada. Her initial reaction? “It’s like a brioche with cheese!” Which is so true! And yes, we like it a golden color, not the blond lightness so prevalent in many commercial ensaimadas these days…

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