We have been working for a long time on a recipe to make this Galician larpeira bread. And first of all, let’s make one thing clear. When we think of bread, we don’t only think of savory bread (as we know many people do) but also of sweet bread.
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And as you may already know, in Mexico there is a very big sweet bread culture, and it is an understatement to say that we really like sweet breads. Well, whenever we think of bread, we think of that bread we grew up with, so typical in our country.
And today, by visiting other countries and learning about their gastronomy and culture, we have also learned about the different types of sweet bread that are made in each one. This is something we are passionate about, getting to know a country through its food. And every time we go to a new country or city, we always try to try everything and above all to understand it.
That’s how we got to know the larpeira Gallega, a typical bread or sweet roll from the region of Galicia in Spain. One day we were served it for dessert and since then we have been obsessed with making a recipe that would be delicious.
The larpeira is a bread that is famous because it is prepared and consumed during the festivities of San Juan in June and has a certain resemblance to the coca de Sant Joan, which is prepared in Catalonia.
The word “larpeira” comes from Galician and means “sweet tooth”, so this is characterized by being a strong and sugary bread, with a lot of body.
The larpeira, in the traditional way, has a light aniseed and lemon zest flavor, filled with pastry cream and decorated with syrup on top. It is distinguished by having a soft and spongy crumb. This, in combination with the pastry cream, has an unequalled flavor.
It is a perfect bread to share and can be prepared at any time of the year simply to delight us. And for me, personally, this bread has become one of my favorite sweet breads of all. And that’s saying a lot.
In addition, a plus point it has is that the ingredients needed are very basic, you just have to pay attention to the procedure, which although it is not difficult, it can be laborious.
If you like the idea of making Spanish dessert or bread recipes, comment below with your suggestions. And if you like this recipe, you have to check out our Italian Easter bread, a classic for these dates that has a lot of charm.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a medium bowl place the milk with the yeast and mix with a spoon. Add the flour and mix very well with the same spoon or with the hands until a homogeneous dough is formed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 4 hours or overnight, preferably at room temperature.
- In a medium saucepan add the milk with half of the sugar, the vanilla pod seeds and the salt. Bring the pot to medium-low heat and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until the milk begins to boil but it is important that it does not boil completely.
- Separately, in a medium bowl add the rest of the sugar with the egg yolks and cornstarch. Beat with a spoon until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Add a little of the hot milk mixture and beat with the same spoon so that the yolk mixture gets warm.
- Pour the yolk mixture into the pot with the milk and cook over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes, continuing to whisk with the balloon whisk, until a thicker cream forms, without burning.
- Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and whisk until it is completely melted and all the ingredients are perfectly integrated. Pour the pastry cream into another clean bowl, cover it with plastic wrap (which should touch the surface of the cream so that it does not form a crust) and refrigerate until needed.
- In a large bowl place the milk with the yeast and honey. Mix with a spoon and let stand for 15 minutes for the yeast to activate.
- After it has rested add the sugar, the lemon zest, the eggs and mix again with the same spoon.
- Add all of the pre-baking powder cut into pieces, the flour, the salt and mix with the same spoon or with the hands until a sticky dough is formed. Place the dough on a clean surface and knead by beating and folding over itself for 5 minutes until it takes more shape and then let it rest for 10 minutes. Repeat this process 2 times so that the dough develops gluten and becomes more manageable.
- Add the butter to the dough and knead for another 15 minutes until all the butter is incorporated and the dough is very smooth and elastic. It is important not to add more flour as the kneading is what will shape the dough (the whole kneading process can also be done in a mixer with the dough hook).
- Once ready, form the dough into a ball and place it in a large clean bowl with a little oil to prevent it from sticking. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 2 hours to double in size.
- Grease with a little butter or place baking paper in a large rectangular baking pan. Once the dough has doubled in size, place it on top of the baking pan and shape it with your hands into a flattened circular shape about 2 cm thick.
- With a sharp knife cut 4 horizontal lines and 4 vertical lines in the circle of dough but without cutting all the way through. This will form squares in the dough and slightly deep lines that will be filled with the pastry cream.
- Using a kitchen brush, brush the entire surface of the bread with the beaten egg. Place the pastry cream in a piping bag or large ziploc bag with an open star-shaped piping tip of about 1 cm or without a piping tip.
- Insert as far as possible the dye or the tip of the piping bag into the cuts made in the dough to fill each line with the pastry cream. The cream will be enough to fill once between the cuts and a second time above the cuts, tracing each line horizontally and vertically.
- Leave the bread to rise uncovered for 1 hour. 15 minutes before the end of this time, preheat the oven to 180°C and add sugar on top of each square that was formed when the bread was cut, not on top of the pastry cream but only on the squares. Bake the bread at 180° C for 40 minutes until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, to make the syrup add the water with the sugar to a small saucepan and cook over high heat for 4 minutes, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until it boils and thickens a little.
- Once the larpeira gallega is ready, remove it from the oven and glaze it while still hot with the syrup using a kitchen brush. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before eating. This bread keeps perfectly well at room temperature in a tightly closed plastic bag for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
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