Semitas Recipe

The Semitas Sweet Bread (Semitas de Piloncillo o Chorreadas)

The semitas from Northern Mexico, which are written with an “s”, and this refers to a type of sweet bread; the cemitas with a “c” refers to a mexican sandwich from Puebla. The semitas are also known as chorreadas because of the way they look when the piloncillo melts while baking with the heat of the oven.

In Mexico there are many traditional sweet breads: you have the conchas, chilindrinas, orejas, magdalenas, pancakes, cocol, hojaldras, pan de huevo, polvorones, these Semitas, and many more… of the latter is that we will take note on this occasion.

The Semitas basically are a kind of mexican sweet bread, flavored with piloncillo. Piloncillo or panela is unrefined sugar usually sold in cone-shaped pieces, and brown sugar isn’t really an adequate substitute if you can't find it.

The Semitas from Northern Mexico

Ingredients

The Piloncillo dough:
* 2.2 lb. [1 kg] of white flour
* 2 piloncillo cones
* 1 cup ground nut powder
* 1 cup raisins
* 1 lb. of lard or vegetable shortening
* 1 and 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
* Cinnamon and anise to taste

The wrapping dough:
* 2.2 lb. white flour
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 lb. sugar
* 1 lb. of shortening
* cinnamon powder, to taste
* A little water

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 °F, we will reduce this setting just before baking

1) First make the piloncillo dough (which will go at the center of our semitas) by putting the flour in source form, and at the center, chop or dissolve the piloncillos in water, along with nuts, raisins, butter, baking powder, cinnamon and anise; mix everything until you get a smooth dough then set aside.

2) Meanwhile, form another mountain with flour and place at its center the sugar, along with cinnamon and shortening; gradually add the water slowly until all ingredients are smoothly combined.

3) Once the two doughballs are ready, divide them both in four smaller balls, making sure not to mix them up! Take the non piloncillo dough balls and shape them like pancakes, and at the center, put a doughball with piloncillo then flatten giving it the Semitas shape.

Finally, if desired decorate the surface with pieces of walnut or brown sugar, and tuck your Semitas to bake at a moderate temperature or 350 °F, for about 20 minutes.