Ensaymada: A labor of love

Yesterday, October 5, 2023, as the world celebrated Teacher’s Day and in remembrance of my late Tito Gary’s would-have-been 70^th birthday, I learned how to make ensaymada from his daughter and her husband.  My cousins Andine and Ryan Villacorta using their father’s recipe, which is an heirloom recipe that he also inherited from his late paternal grandmother, Consuelo Araneta continued his ensaymada business after his death. 

Packaged in cellophane and white Japanese paper wrapped boxes, these pillowy and light as a feather confection made by Consuelo Araneta, fondly known as Lola Conching are still being sold today as Conching’s Special Ensaimada by the family of her former employees.

However my uncle, Tito Gary and his children sold their version as Araneta’s Special Ensaymada.  Prior to my late uncle learning the craft, I remember my late grandmother, Emma Araneta also making these confection with the help of my mom and they used to sell those as well.

I was only a child then and my memories are limited to recalling a male helper in the kitchen slamming the dough on the table repeatedly and endlessly it seemed.  I remember thinking how tedious it looked.  I also remember Lola Emma carefully rolling and coiling these slippery dough after applying butter on them generously and then gently placing them into individual molders with her delicate hands.

Now it is my turn to learn the craft and so I eagerly took a video and jotted down notes as Ryan demonstrated the procedure.  The process seemed easy enough but at the same time quite technical.  Thankfully, Ryan shared his vast knowledge and experience with me and Andine allowed me to help in the rolling and coiling of the dough as well as the buttering and sugaring of the freshly baked ensaymadas.

If there’s anything I learned from my ensaymada lesson yesterday, it is that it is a labor of love.  From the mixing of the batter that takes quite a while to the rising of the dough that takes hours, to the parceling out and then rolling and coiling of each piece of dough and then waiting for it to rise again to the buttering and sugaring of each piece, to the preparation of the box where the confection will nest, each individual ensaymada is special indeed.