Ingredients

16 Portions

• 4¼ cups flour
• 3½ oz butter
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 2½ tablespoons yeast
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Icing sugar or cinnamon
• about 40 apricots

Ensaimadas

Directions

1. First, thin the yeast with some warm water or milk. Make the flour into a nest in a large bowl, then add sugar and the diluted yeast. Knead the mixture until completely uniform. Now cover the bowl and place the fresh dough in a dry and warm place so the yeast can rise. The dough should have doubled in volume before you mix in the other ingredients — this can take up to an hour.

2. Next, add the three eggs while stirring constantly. If your dough is very thin, add more flour to the mixture. Once the dough is tough and even, roll it out with a rolling pin and form it into long thin strips of dough. You need to make 16 strips in total. Now melt the butter and coat each strip before rolling it into a snail-shell shape. In Majorca, it's customary to coat the ensaimada again with lard; however, you can also use the rest of the butter for this.

3. Cut the apricots in half and remove the stones. Put some syrup in the holes and then press the apricot pieces onto each “snail” (the outer spiral should be left alone). Grease a baking tray and cook the ensaimadas at 180°C/350°F for 20 to 30 minutes in the oven until the edges look crispy. Decorate the finished cakes with powdered sugar or cinnamon as desired.