International Recipes
Guava Bread (Mojicon - Columbia)
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour(plus more as needed)
- 6 ounces guava paste, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)
- 1 tablespoon decorator's sugar (for garnish)
Instructions
- Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let stand until soft,
about 5 minutes.
- Scald milk in a small saucepan. Stir in the butter until it melts. Remove the
milk from the heat and allow it to cool to about 110 degrees F.
- Mix the milk-butter mixture, sugar, egg, salt and 1 cup of the flour into the
yeast until blended, and then beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 5 minutes.
- Gradually stir in the remaining flour with a plastic spatula to make a smooth,
elastic dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until silky smooth,
about 5 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. Put the dough
into a large, lightly greased bowl, and then flip it over so that the top is greased.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a towel, and let it rise in a warm place until
doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch down the dough, turn it out onto a floured surface, and divide it into
4 equal portions. Roll one into a 15 x 5-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
Leaving a 1/4-inch border, sprinkle one fourth of the diced guava paste evenly over
the dough. Roll up the dough from the long side, like a jellyroll, to form a long
rope. Transfer the rope to one end of a greased baking sheet, form it into a ring,
and pinch the ends to seal. Repeat until all the dough pieces are shaped into rings.
Place 2 rings on each baking sheet. Make 5 evenly spaced crosswise cuts, 3/4 inch
deep and 2 inches long, in each ring to expose the filling (as if cutting each into
5 chunks, but do not cut through the bottom layer of dough). Cover the rings with
towels and let them rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about 40
minutes.
- Brush each ring with egg white glaze and dust with decorator's sugar. Bake
the rings on the upper rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven until they are golden
brown and sound hollow when tapped gently, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer the bread to wire racks to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 4 small bread rings, serving 8.