Sweet Cheese Halloween Conchas
We all love conchas – those delicious shell-shaped pan dulce from the panaderia. Well, here is a sweet little twist to the tradition. Use Cacique’s Queso Fresco, mixed with some Crema and powdered sugar and you have a delectable filling for these sweet breads. What’s nice is that the flavor is light and not too sweet, and gives a whole new texture to the concha. Here is a full recipe for making your own conchas from scratch, but if you want to speed up the process, go halfway handmade. Simply pick up a batch of conchas from your local bakery, make the cheese filling and add it to each one!
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WHAT YOU NEED
- 3 teaspoons of dry active yeast
- ½ cup of water
- ½ cup of room temperature milk
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup of butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 1 package Cacique® Queso Fresco
- For the concha topping:
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- Orange, black or purple food coloring
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Make the conchas: Mix the yeast and water, then add water, milk, sugar, butter, salt, and egg. Mix together, then fold in the flour and mix until well blended. Place in a bowl, cover with a towel for 1-1/2 hours for dough to rise.
- Make the Topping: Combine sugar, butter, flour, vanilla and mix well. Then fold in the food coloring of your choice. Mix until the color is consistent.
- After the concha dough has risen, pull off enough to make 12 balls. Roll and set on a greased cookie sheet. Pinch off a jawbreaker sized piece of the topping, roll and flatten in a circle and place one on top of each ball of dough. Use a knife to cut assorted designs, such as lines or swirls or rays to look like a shell. Let set for 40 minutes. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. If your conchas do not brown, use an egg wash on top before placing them in the oven.
- While the conchas are baking, make the filling: In a large bowl, combine the cheese, crema and powdered sugar. Beat until it is fluffy consistency, like cottage cheese. Taste and see if you want to add more powdered sugar.
- When conchas are done baking, let them cool. Then cut in half and add a tablespoon of the sweet cheese filling to each one.
