March 30, 2016

Mona de Pascua, Easter Sweet Bread, from Valencia

Natacha Sanz Caballero Breads, Desserts and Sweets Easter in Spain, easter sweet bread, mona, mona de pascua, sweet bread

You might be wondering why I would be posting a recipe for Mona de  Pascua now. In my defense, I will say that we ate the monas (also called panquemados) on Easter Monday, as it is tradition in Spain. And also in my defense I will say that Easter started on Sunday, but it hasn’t ended yet. In fact, it will not end until Pentecost, which this year is celebrated on May 15. Okay, okay, monas are mostly eaten on Sunday and Monday of Easter, but I like them at any time of year, and in my hometown, you can find them or order them year-round. There.

When I think of Easter, memories of my grandma Maravillas come to mind. She lived very close to our house, one block away, and we saw her daily. And even though she hosted lunches at her house often, there were events throughout the year, special celebrations and religious holidays, that she would take seriously, and always with her grandchildren (all eleven of us) in mind. Around this time of year, one of them was Palm Sunday, when she’d order very elaborate and intricate palms, made from palm tree leaves from the neighboring city of Elche, for all the grandchildren. It is worth taking a moment here to mention that Elche is famous for its palm grove (El Palmeral de Elche), an orchard with over 200,000 palm trees, that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. The city of Elche, in fact, every year provides the Pope with the palm he will carry on Palm Sunday at the Vatican.

Another holy feast my grandma Maravillas held dear was Easter, when she would order the traditional desert eaten in the region of Valencia on Easter, for each of her grandchildren. It’s name is mona, mona de Pascua to be exact, and it is a sweet bread in a round shape, with an egg in the middle. Tradition calls for eating the mona outdoors, mid afternoon, while picnicking. We did this at my grandma’s summer house, or casita as we call them in Onteniente, where the whole family, uncles and aunts and cousins, gathered. I remember we the kids ate the sweet bread with delight, and left the egg behind, only to have our moms chase after us to eat the boiled egg, which we didn’t like very much. Eventually the monas evolved, and my grandma started buying them with a chocolate egg in the middle. Much better!

Monas for Easter were first introduced in the 18th century, and they are particular to the Mediterranean regions of Valencia and Murcia. In Cataluña, where they are very famous today, they were introduced later, at the end of the 19th century. The monas there are mostly made of chocolate, and they take many shapes and sizes, very creative ones, like animals or houses or cartoon characters.

There are various theories about the origin of the word mona. It could come from the Latin muna, which means “basket of sweets”. It could also have its origin in the arab word mu’na, or the hebrew word munna, which mean “gift or present”. This makes a lot of sense, given the legacy that the Jews and Moors left in Spain.

With regard to the egg, it is possible that its origin comes from the end of abstinence from eating meat and meat products during Lent. There was a time when this abstinance was very rigorous, and it didn’t include just Fridays, as is the case nowadays. Egg was considered a meat product, and therefore could not be eaten during Lent. Easter marked the end of the restriction.

I made my monas with chocolate eggs, as requested by my family. And although there are some leftover, monas are best eaten fresh, the same or the next day. Like with bread, you’ll have to cover them so they don’t dry up, and they can be stored this way, or in a bread box, for a couple of days. I love to have my leftover mona with breakfast, sliced and spread with butter and marmalade, or with chocolate spread. But my favorite way to have it is with a piece of mona in one hand and a piece of chocolate in the other hand: one bite of mona and one bite of chocolate at the same time, coming together in my mouth.

Making monas is almost like making bread, in that the dough has to leaven. The first leavening will be to make the starter dough, or pre-ferment, and takes about one day or more (I let mine leaven for a day). So if you’re planning on making monas, plan ahead. The second leavening is shorter, about two hours, and it’s followed by baking, which is quite short: 15 to 18 minutes (watch the monas closely while they’re in the oven so they don’t overbake).

Happy Easter, and happy baking!

EASTER SWEET BREAD

Monas de Pascua

Ingredients:

               For the starter or pre-ferment:

1/2 cup bread flour

2 tsp yeast

1/2 cup warm water

                For the sweet bread:

1/2 cup milk

Outer skin of an orange (no white part)

3 cups bread flour

2/3 cups granulated sugar

3 Tbs olive oil

4 tsp yeast

2 large eggs

1 Tbs orange flower water

Starter or pre-ferment

               To decorate:

2 egg whites, at room temperature

A few drops of lemon

A pinch of salt

2 Tbs granulated sugar

Chocolate eggs (optional)

 

Method:

Starter or pre-ferment:

Disolve the yeast in the warm water. Add this mixture to the flour and mix well with a spoon. Let the mixture leaven for 24 to 48 hours at room temperature (I let it leaven for 24 hours)

Sweet bread:

Sift the flour.

In a small saucepan, add the orange skin to the milk and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat source and let the milk cool down for a few minutes. Place a amall sieve over a bowl and pour the milk through it, discarding the orange skins. Add the yeast to the milk.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and incorporate them into the milk. Stir to mix. Add the sugar, the orange flower water and the starter to the mixture. Mix. Add half of the flour and mix. Add the olive oil, while continuing to mix. Slowly add the remaining flour, enough to achieve a dough with a slightly sticky consistency. Cover the bowl with a moist dish towel and let it rise until the dough doubles in size, about 2 hours.

Shape the sweet breads:

Before handling the dough, rub the palms of your hands with a few drops of oil. Very lightly flour the work surface and kneed the dough very lightly, a couple of times, just enough to be able to divide it into 2 or 4 equal portions, depending on the size of the sweet bread you want to make (you can do this with your hands or with a knife). Form a ring with each of the portions, making sure you leave a center hole of about 2 or 2.5 inches. Place the rings on one or two baking trays lined with parchment paper, allowing a minimum or 3 inches between them.

Decoration:

In a very clean bowl, place the egg whites, a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon and beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks. With your fingers, generously spread the meringue over the surface of the sweet bread rings. Sprinkle evenly with sugar.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Bake the sweet breads for 15 to 18 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cooled down, sprinkle the sweet breads with some more sugar. Let the sweet breads cool down completely before placing the chocolate egg in the center hole, if using.

The sweet breads can be stored for 2 to 3 days. Like with any bread, they will dry quickly if cut and left uncovered.

 

Notes:

If orange flower water is unavailable, use 1 tablespoon of lemon instead. You can also substitute the orange skin with lemon skin

The size of the center hole must be at least 2 to 2.5 inches, to allow enough space for the chocolate egg, because it will become smaller as the sweet bread bakes

If you’d like to make the sweet breads the traditional way, with a cooked egg, you’ll have to boil the egg first, and place it in the center hole before placing the sweet bread in the oven