Ingredients
Equipment
Method
For the preferment:
- 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.
For the pastry cream:
- 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.
For the dough and the finished product:
- 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.
For the syrup:
- 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.