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Facturas Argentinas (sweet rolls)

Light, crunchy and brown is the slogan for these rolls called facturas in Argentina. The key to success is to be found in the dough preparation and the cooking time as well. Here you will find some useful hints to achieve great facturas and to justly compete with the best bakeries.

The Key to Success for facturas

Flour

• Make sure you use the whitest 000 flour. Sift it once or twice before you start cooking.

Brewer´s Yeast

•It must be fresh. You can recognize it by its scent, uniform color and smooth texture. Keep it wrapped up in aluminium foil or in a waterproof cloth in the refrigerator until the moment you have to use it.

Water

•Water should be warm and enough to dissolve the yeast. If it is too cold, the yeast will not ferment, and the dough will not rise. On the contrary, if it is too hot, the result will be a hard dough.

Sugar

•Make sure you choose the finest and whitest possible sugar. It is recommended to sift it before with a not so thin weave mesh strainer to screen out unwanted things.

Eggs

•Make sure they are as fresh as possible. It is recommended to break the eggs in a plate before adding them to the mixture to see if they are fine. If you are planning to use them, take them out of the refrigerator a while before so they get room temperature.

Orange Flower Water

• Try to purchase it in a confectionery store. Once opened up, close tightly in order for it not to lose its flavor, scent and characteristics.

Butter

•Butter can be replaced by margarine; however, the taste of the dough will not be the same. Remove from the refrigerator 10 minutes before using it in order to obtain a bread not too soft.

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Ways of Working the Dough

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and knead them together in order to obtain a solid dough. Shape it into rolls and bake them. If necessary, sprinkle the counter with sifted flour to prevent the dough from sticking into its surface.

The Rising of the Dough

Put the dough in a bowl slightly buttered and cover it with a dry dish-towel, and let it rest in a warm room to allow the dough to rise in a natural way. Avoid putting the dough in hot places or near by any heat source. Once its size is twice as big, put the dough in a floured counter. Knead it in order to remove the remaining air of it. Stretch it and follow the instructions in accordance with the recipe you are cooking.

Cooking

The oven is required to be hot to cook the facturas. Keep in mind that they will double their size while being baked. Therefore, it is recommended to place them separately in a buttered tray.

Very Important

Once the facturas are cooked, they should not be kept for more than two or three days, since the dough is a soft and spongy one, obtained from the fermentation of the yeast before being cooked. If the weather is dry, they will keep their texture for a longer time. On the contrary, in very humid days, the dough will lose its characteristic crunchiness.

Basic Dough

With variants

•12 ounces of sifted flour • 8 ounces of butter • 0.8 ounces of brewer's Yeast • 4 ounces of granulated sugar • 3 eggs • 1 teaspoon of salt • 1 teaspoon of orange water flower • vanilla essence or grated lemon rind • enough warm water.

Sugar Coating

• Sifted confectioners sugar dissolved with very little water.

Syrup

•Cook 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water until you can get some of it with a spoon and it resembles a thread that would not break easily.

Feeling and Coating of Facturas

•Confectioner's custard • quince paste • dulce de leche thick caramel spread • raisins • dry coconut • walnuts, among other ingredients.
Mix 4 ounces of flour with the butter and roll it up into a roll. Put in the refrigerator for 4 hours. With the remaining flour, make a hollow circle on the counter. Dissolve the yeast with a little of warm water until obtain a watery, thin paste. Put this paste into the hollow circle along with salt, sugar, eggs and the orange flower water. Knead them together until obtain a smooth dough. Stretch it into a rectangular shape and in its center put the block of butter, and let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Repeat this command two more times. Then grab some dough and roll it out, giving it the shape you prefer. Repeat this with the rest of the dough. Place them in a buttered baking tray and let them rise until they double their actual size. Brush the pastry with some beaten eggs and place them in a preheated oven for about 12 minutes.