Sourdough Mallorcas from Bryan Ford's new book, New World Sourdough. These are a sourdough variation on Pan de Mallorca, and are sweet and lightly flavoured with lemon. They are the perfect sweet treat, and have the most amazing sourdough flavour.
Sourdough Mallorcas
Hiiii happy Tuesday! I am so excited to pop on here and share a recipe for these Sourdough Mallorcas from my friend Bryan’s new book, New World Sourdough, which is out in the world today! I met Bryan over the internet (where I meet most of my friends TBH) only a few months ago, and quickly fell in love with his work - he shares super approachable sourdough recipes on his site, adapting almost anything to include natural leavening, and also runs classes on his Patreon where he dives deeper into the art of sourdough, sharing his tips and tricks and recipes in his super laid back manner.
Bryan's book is filled with almost everything you can think of, given a sourdough spin, influenced by his Honduran roots and New Orleans upbringing, along with all kinds of other life experiences along the way. He trained as an accountant, and started working full time with bread a few years ago. Bryan’s book approaches bread with a whole new lens - that sourdough is more than just scored loaves and perfectly cut crumb shots (read this article here, it is amazing). Bryan's recipes are super easy to follow, are all in grams (aka a one way ticket to my heart), and the photos in the book are so, so beautiful.
I have been making the ‘typical’ sourdough loaves along with the rest of instagram for a few years now, along with bagels and crackers - pretty boring stuff to be honest. Bryan’s book has totally opened my eyes to the possibility of what you can do with your sourdough starter. I flipped through the book to find something to make and share here (I’m making everything, just had to choose one to start with), and immediately landed on these Sourdough Mallorcas because 1) I am predictable and instantly drawn to swirly bread, 2) They look incredible, and 3) I have made zillions of batches of brioche before but never a naturally leavened one, for no good reason other than that I am a chicken.
How to make Sourdough Mallorcas
Mallorcas are historically from Spain, but can be found widely throughout Puerto Rico and other Carribean countries. They are a soft, sweet, enriched bun, rolled up into a swirl, then drowned in a healthy amount of powdered sugar. Bryan says in his book “They can be sliced in half and used for sandwiches, or eaten with Jam and butter. Either way, you are guaranteed to eat more than one at a time”.
Mallorcas are super easy to make - you make an enriched dough and proof it at room temp and then in the fridge overnight, then roll it out and spread it with butter and a little sugar, then cut strips which roll up into pinwheels. They get a second room temp proof, and then they are baked off until they are golden brown and perfectly squishy. The dough itself is lightly flavoured with lemon and sweetened with brown sugar, so it goes with everything. These will be happening again very soon in my house! Congrats on the book Bryan!
A few wee tips for making Sourdough Mallorcas
This recipe includes an overnight rest so make sure you account for that!
I did a few things which I would do differently next time just for aesthetic reasons: When you roll them up, tuck the tail of the bun under so that it doesn’t unravel. And then secondly, when you proof them, don’t put the plastic wrap on too tight, or they spread out rather than up and you end up with snail shells rather than nice high buns. Neither of these are game over, just a heads up if you like to have your outcome look like the picture (Like I do!)
If you don’t have a starter, Bryan has a guide on his site for making one! He keeps a rye starter, there are a bunch of different ways to do it! My starter, Eunice, is a 100% white flour girl (so I feed her with AP flour). Either is fine - just make sure that you follow the steps for building the levain at the start of each recipe.
If you don’t have a scale, get one. If you try and make sourdough without a scale, you are going to have a very shit time.
For more Sweet Bread Recipes, Check Out:
- Dark Chocolate and Peppermint Sweet Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Nutella, Banana and Hazelnut Sweet Rolls with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls
Sourdough Mallorcas
- Prep Time: 45 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 plus rising time
- Yield: 12 Mallorcas 1x
Description
Sourdough Mallorcas from Bryan Ford's new book, New World Sourdough. These are a sourdough variation on Pan de Mallorca, and are sweet and lightly flavoured with lemon. They are the perfect sweet treat, and have the most amazing sourdough flavour.
Ingredients
Building the Levain
- 75g Mature sourdough starter (starter which is ready to be fed)
- 100g bread flour
- 50g whole wheat flour
- 150g warm water
Final Dough Mix
- 100g eggs
- 100g cold whole milk
- 200g levain
- 100g light brown sugar
- 5g lemon zest
- 1g vanilla extract
- 100g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
- 400g bread flour
- 100g all-purpose flour
- 6g salt
- Boiling water, for proofing
Filling and Topping
- 50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 5g granulated sugar
- Powdered sugar, for topping
Instructions
TO BUILD THE LEVAIN
- In a tall jar or medium bowl, mix the mature starter, flours, and warm water until incorporated. Cover with a lid or clean kitchen towel and leave in a warm place for 3 to 4 hours.
- You can use your levain immediately, or refrigerate it for 12 hours to use later or the next day.
FINAL DOUGH MIX
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and cold milk to combine. Add the levain, brown sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla. Whisk until just incorporated.
- Add the cubed butter, flours, and salt. Mix the ingredients together using using your hands. Squeeze everything together and then turn the dough out onto a work surface.
- Knead the dough using the palm of your hand to push it forward, and then your fingers to pull it back toward your hand. repeat this process until you have a smooth surface. Don’t be afraid to rip this dough while you knead with the palm of your hand and then bring it back together again.
- Cover the dough and let ferment at room temperature for 6 hours. Transfer to the fridge and ferment for 12 hours more.
ASSEMBLY AND BAKING
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside (I used two). Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll it into a rectangle about 12”x8” (30x20cm).
- Spread the room temperature butter over the dough and evenly sprinkle the granulated sugar on top. Cut the rectangle horizontally into 12 (1 inch, or 2.5cm wide) strips. Roll each into a pinwheel. Arrange the mallorca rolls on the prepared sheet pan with enough space between so they can grow. Cover VERY lightly with plastic wrap (see notes).
- Fill an ovenproof pot with boiling water and put it into the cold oven. With the oven off and cold, put your trays of mallorcas inside the oven and let them proof for 2-3 hours, or until they are noticeably puffy.
- To bake, remove the mallorcas and pot from the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°f / 190°c. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the mallorcas with water. Bake for 20 minutes, or until light golden brown.
- Sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar while still warm.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Reprinted with Permission from ‘New World Sourdough’ by Bryan Ford
Keywords: Mallorca, Sourdough, Bryan Ford, New World Sourdough, Mallorcas, Sourdough Starter
How do you keep the rolls from separating. The butter seems to be the culprit would it be better not to use it? The taste is heavenly. My house has smelled so delish for two days making the recipe.
Hi! Do you mean unrolling? I am so glad you loved! They are just so yum x
Yes unrolling. I can’t imagine trying to cut into a bun for making a sandwich or anything. They make a great substitute for cinnamon rolls.
Hmmm yeah either you can roll them tighter, or tuck the tail under the bottom so that they don't unroll too much! I had some loose tails on mine too. They still taste so good though! I've seen people bake them closer together too so they all kind of join up which could be another alternative!