Semita Alta (Salvadoran sweet bread)

Pan dulce is my weakness. If I see it, I eat it. This is the main reason I try to stay away from baked goods but I could not leave Semita Alta out of my learning journey.

What is Semita alta?

Semita alta is a sweet bread with pockets of panela throughout. There are two variations of it, one which is known as Semita "pacha" which means thin in English. Semita pacha is only made with one type of dough and has a layer in the middle of panela. 'Alta' means tall so Semita Alta is the taller version made with a dough for the crust and a different dough for the filling. Both variations are delicious but I have to say my favorite is Semita Alta.

How to make Semita Alta?

My family doesn't have bakers so I had to look for a recipe to follow. I found the recipe I liked from "Cocinemos con Sulma" on Youtube. Sulma is Salvadoreña and shares Salvadoran recipes on her channel in Spanish. I tweaked her recipe to my liking and you should do the same! I added a bit more sugar on the crust, more vanilla, more panela and used unsalted butter instead of vegetable shortening. Like I said, I'm not baker so I had to try three times to get this recipe right and here are some of the lessons I learned:

• Use vegetable shortening or unsalted butter, both work well

• When you start mixing in the milk, the mix will start looking runny, keep going. The flour will fix it all

• Use a stand mixer if you have one. Specially for the filling, the dough is very sticky and thick.

Ingredients: this makes a 9 x11 pan

Crust

• 6 oz of vegetable shortening or unsalted butter

• 1 cup warm water

• 1/2 tsp of instant yeast

• 3 1/3 cups of all purpose flour

• 2 tbsp of sugar or to taste

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt

Filling

• 4 cups of bread flour

• 1 1/2 cup sugar

• 8oz of vegetable shortening or unsalted butter

• 4 eggs

• 1 1/2 tsp of instant yeast

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups of milk

• 1-2 Cones of Pilloncillo de panela

1. Prepare all of the ingredients, measure or weight them as needed. I sifted both flours in separate containers and had them ready, weighted the butter, took out the eggs from the fridge, etc.

2. First make the crust dough. In a container add the sifted all purpose flour and add in the yeast, sugar and salt, and mix well. Then add the room temperature butter or vegetable shortening and mix for two minutes or until it's fully incorporated. Then add a cup warm water gradually as you mix it until a firm dough starts to form. If you are using a stand mixer set it on level two with the dough hook and knead it for 5 minutes. If you're doing it by hand, knead for 5-10 minutes on a cleansed surface. Set to the side in a covered bowl.

3. Now the filling! Start off by placing the room temperature butter or vegetable shortening in the mixing bowl and add the sugar and whisk for two minutes.

4. Then add the vanilla extract and whisk again until it's fully incorporated.

5. Add in 4 eggs one by one and whisk.

6. Add in the instant yeast and start adding the milk gradually. Whisk until all the milk has been incorporated and repeat until all the milk has been added in. If you want to add yellow dye in for color, add it in this step.

7. Start to add in the flour, one cup at a time. The mixture will start getting thick as you add more flour. Add in the baking powder along with the last portion of the flour and mix it well.

8. Before the assembly, prepare the panela. Grate or cut the panela into pieces. I suggest you leave some pieces bigger than others, this will create craters in middle of the bread filled with panela.

9. In a cleansed surface separate the dough for the crust into two. I would do a 60/40 split. Grab the bigger portion and start to knead it out to a flat and thin layer with a rolling pin. This piece has to cover your mold surface, both the bottom and sides of the baking mold/dish you are baking in. Once it's thin to your liking, place it over your mold, push it into place and cut any excess.

10. Add in 1/3 of your dough for the filling and as much panela as you want on this layer. Repeat this until you have filled 2/3 up of the baking mold/dish.

11. Roll out the other piece of dough for the crust just like the first and add it to the top of your baking dish. Cut the excess off and now pinch the edges of the bottom crust and the top crust together. This will keep the Semita from opening up while it's expanding in the over.

12. With the left over pieces of dough for the crust you can decorate the top. Roll out the pieces into thin and long strips of dough and create a pattern at the top of the Semita.

13. Now we let it rise for about 45 mins or until it's almost double is size. Place the baking dish in a warm area and let it sit.

14. Pre heat the over to 350, this may be different depending on your oven temperature and size. The size of the mold may also impact this, I used a heart shaped mold and mine took about 1 1/2 to bake at 350. The original recipes recommends 45 mins at 400, but in my oven that did not work. You'll know it's done when a tooth pick or knife comes out clean.

This is labor of love! If you try it I hope it fills your heart and stomach with love and as always learn the process, make it your own! For the video recipe go to @flourishwithg on Instagram and Tiktok!