Mexican Conchas
Our co-founder, Luis, has been making these seashell-inspired sweet breads with his family since he was a child in México. He has developed this recipe to honour his relatives, the Latino community, and introduce conchas to every kitchen .
Conchas are a beloved and iconic part of Mexican cuisine, dating back to the early colonial period. This iconic sweet bread or “Pan Dulce” combines Spanish baking traditions like wheat flour and sugar with Indigenous Mexican flavours like vanilla and cocoa beans. Concha baking techniques have evolved over the centuries, embodying the essence of Mexico’s rich culinary history they and can be found in Mexican bakeries and kitchens worldwide.
Concha Covering Ingredients
100 g Pastry Flour
100 g Icing Sugar
100 g Lard (or vegetable shortening)
7.5 g Vanilla Extract (if doing vanilla conchas)
10 g Cocoa powder (if doing chocolate conchas)
Concha DOugh Ingredients
175 g Milk
22.5 g Instant Yeast
600 g Pastry Flour
7.5 g Salt
100 g Eggs (2 Large Eggs)
Concha Covering Method
In a medium bowl, sift flour and icing sugar together. Add the lard and mix by hand until a consistent dough is formed. Separate the dough in half. In one bowl add the vanilla and in the other the cocoa powder. Mix separately to incorporate.
Roll into 20 g balls for each flavour, cover with plastic wrap so as not to form a skin, and store in fridge.
Make the concha Dough
In a sauce pan, heat milk to 23°C. Dissolve the yeast into the milk and whisk. Combine remaining ingredients in a stand mixer bowl, add the yeast mixture, and mix for 10 minutes on medium-high speed, until dough is smooth and uniform. Check the temperature of the dough often, and do not let the internal temperature rise above 28°C. Desired dough temperature out of mixing is 25-26°C.
Unlike other recipes, we will skip the bulk fermentation and go right into dividing and shaping our conchas. Divide the dough into 60g pieces and roll into balls. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place the conchas with at least 1.5 inches of space between them. For a full baking sheet, you can line 3x5.
Assemble, Scoring & Baking
Divide the concha covering dough into 20 g balls, and place between to cut pieces of freezer bag or cling wrap. Concha coverings can be pressed in a tortilla press or shaped with a rolling pin until it is slightly larger than the concha dough balls. Carefully remove the wrap, and place on top of the concha and lightly pat it down, covering it fully.
Score lines across the concha covering with a very sharp knife or razor blade, creating a shell design. Proof at room temperature for 15-35 minutes. The conchas will be ready when they spring back nice and slow after being poked with a wet or floured finger, and the concha covering has expanded and separated as they proofed.
Preheat the oven to 340°F and bake in the middle/lower rack until internal temperature of the conchas are 190°F and the bread of the conchas is not dark, careful not to burn them, about 8-12 min. Transfer the conchas onto cooling racks.
Serve with hot chocolate or cut in half, toast them, and slather on butter!
