Coconut Conchas
I think I have gotten really good at making conchas. The sweet bread that’s only marginally sweet has become the thing I most enjoy baking. It’s a bake that’s exhausting, but a good exhaustion. I usually take advantage of the two hours designated for the first dough rise to either shower or simply sit down on my couch. Then it’s another hour or so of shaping the conchas, dividing the topping dough into equal pieces; pressing the topping gently onto each concha, and finally scoring the topping before the dough rests for one final rise.
When the conchas come out of the oven, I go into inspection mode. Did they bake fully in the center? Split it in half and find out. How is the texture? I’ve been lucky that even when the flavor didn’t come through in my conchas, they’ve always had the ideal crumb. I find that using bread flour instead of all-purpose really makes a difference. Until making these coconut conchas I was using instant yeast, but I bloomed dry active yeast in warmed milk for the first test and that is what I will be doing going forward. It makes for just the softest, most tender concha.
I don’t know how many concha doughs I’ve made since February, but it’s a lot. What I’ve learned is that it is quite difficult to get a lot of flavor into the dough itself. Enriched doughs tend to be this way, I think? Putting most of the flavor into the topping is the way to go. Mixing the topping ingredients by hand is my favorite part; I’ll never use a pastry cutter for this step. I like being able to feel with my hands when the dough is ready. This is also how I mix pie dough ingredients; I find that a pastry cutter just gets in my way and I’d rather rely on my hands. You’re looking for a Play-Doh consistency that can either be flattened with just the back of a pie plate or with a tortilla press if you have one.
Why did some baker decide to score the tops of their sweet bread roll to look like a seashell? I’m very interested in the unknowable answer to this question. I also think about if a concha is still a concha even when a seashell design isn’t used? I was looking at different seashell shapes the other day trying to find a signature design to use for my own conchas, but there’s shockingly not a ton of variation that I could replicate for a design. I’ve used a flower cookie cutter to cut out flower shapes in the topping once, which was very cute. I’ve seen heart cut outs used, as well as a rose shape. Did you know that the Japanese melon pan is a “sweet enriched bun covered in a cookie crust and scored to resemble the skin of a melon”? *Wide eyed emoji* I will definitely be looking for a Japanese bakery or grocery store in Atlanta to try these.
The dough is just a simple vanilla concha dough with no additional flavoring; lightly toasted coconut flour and coconut oil is used in the topping which makes for a really lovely coconut flavor. In the first test I used coconut milk, coconut flour, and coconut oil in the dough, but it felt like a waste of ingredients because the coconut flavor was not as prominent as I wanted. The second time I tested I used coconut ingredients in the topping only and so that’s what we’re doing here. I’ve included a short video link of the way I shape my conchas, which can be viewed here. Posting the video directly into this blog post formatted things wonky, so please check out the Vimeo link above if you’re confused about how to shape conchas!
Toast the coconut flour in a dry skillet over medium heat stirring constantly for about two minutes. Any longer and the end result after getting baked in an oven is a slightly burned coconut flavor in the topping which we of course do not want. Other than that simply add about two tablespoons of coconut oil into the topping, knocking back a bit of the shortening we typically would use.
For decoration I used lightly toasted coconut chips that I just pressed right onto the topping as soon as they came out of the oven. With these coconut conchas I like to sprinkle a little bit of granulated sugar on the topping right before scoring, just for a tiny bit of extra sweetness and a little decoration. If you wanted to add finely grated lime zest to the topping that would give a fun tropical vibe, though I tried this with the first test and found the lime to actually overpower the delicate coconut flavor. Of course this would be a good idea if you want to make a coconut AND lime concha.
COCONUT CONCHAS
Yield: 14 conchas
Concha dough:
8 grams (about 1 ½ packages) active dry yeast
120 ml (½ cup) full-fat milk, warmed in microwave for 15 seconds
500 (about 3 ¾ cups) grams bread flour
125 grams (about ½ cup) granulated sugar
3 grams (about 1 teaspoon) kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-size pieces for easier incorporation into dough
3 large eggs
about 1 tablespoon vanilla paste or extract
Topping:
87 grams all-purpose flour
33 grams lightly toasted coconut flour
4 ounces confectioner’s sugar
1.5 ounces shortening
2 heaping tablespoons coconut oil
Pinch of salt
To make the concha dough:
Preheat oven to 350F. This is just to create a warm environment for the concha dough to rise in. Grease a medium-sized mixing bowl with cooking spray or softened butter and set aside.
Place yeast in a small bowl. Warm the milk in the microwave for 15 seconds. Pour milk into bowl with the yeast and whisk to combine. Let yeast bloom while you prepare the rest of the concha dough.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine.
With the hook attachment in place, add the butter and mix on medium speed (speed 6 on a Kitchenaid stand mixer). Once the butter has been mostly incorporated, add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix.
Add the vanilla extract or paste and the bloomed yeast to the concha dough. Now is a good time to turn off your preheated oven. Mix dough on medium speed for a good 5 minutes. If the dough is looking wet, add more flour by the tablespoon until the sides of the dough starts to pull away from the mixing bowl.
Dump the concha dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand just for an additional minute or so.
Place concha dough in the prepared greased mixing bowl and cover with a lid. Drape a clean kitchen towel over the bowl and set inside of your warm oven. Let concha dough rise until doubled in size. Start checking your dough around the one hour mark, but doubling in size will usually take about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
To make the topping:
While the dough is rising, make your concha topping. In a medium sized bowl, add all the ingredients and mix using your hands (or a pastry cutter, if you absolutely must) making sure to break up the shortening and coconut oil. You’re looking for a Play-Doh consistency.
Once the topping mixture is at the Play-Doh stage, cover with plastic wrap and set aside just on your counter while the concha dough continues to rise.
To shape the conchas:
After the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl and set on your counter for 5 minutes. You can either divide the dough into 14 equal pieces by eye or you can weigh out the dough balls (I usually just tear pieces of dough and weigh them out as I go). Each concha dough ball should weigh 69 grams.
Watch the video above to see how I shape the conchas. You basically make a C-shape with your hand and roll the dough ball on the counter to make a round shape.
Place each shaped concha dough ball on a large parchment-paper lined baking sheet (you will need two large baking sheets for 14 conchas). Continue until all the concha dough is shaped into balls.
Rub a little softened butter on the tops and sides of each concha. Cover both baking sheets with clean kitchen towels while you work with the concha topping.
Now it’s time to work with the topping. Divide the topping into 14 pieces that each weigh 22 grams.
Take one concha topping piece and place it between two small pieces of parchment paper or one large piece of plastic wrap. Using a pie plate (or a tortilla press if you have one), flatten the concha topping piece then press it gently on top of a concha ball. Continue with the remaining concha topping pieces until all conchas are covered. Now would be the time to sprinkle a little granulated sugar on the topping of each concha, if you wanted to add a bit more sweetness or just for just a little additional decoration.
Using either a paring knife or a concha cutter, cut a concha/seashell design into the topping. Make sure to only cut through the topping and not into the concha itself. Continue with the rest of the concha toppings.
Once all concha toppings are cut, drape kitchen towels over both baking sheets and let concha dough rise a second time in a warm environment until doubled in size; this will usually take about an hour but I recommend checking the dough around 45 minutes. (I typically will preheat my oven to about 300F when I begin shaping the conchas, then just place both baking sheets right on top of my stove. When the conchas have been rising for about 30 minutes, I’ll raise my oven temperature to 325F.) Additionally, you can place toasted coconut chips on top of each concha either right before they bake, or right when they come out of the oven. Keep in mind if you decorate the conchas with coconut chips before they bake, the chips will toast/brown further in the oven.
Bake the conchas:
Bake conchas one baking sheet at a time for 20 minutes. You should be able to smell the coconut in the topping, and see that the bottoms of the conchas have browned nicely. You’re looking for golden brown bottoms on the conchas.
Let conchas cool just slightly before eating.
To store conchas:
Conchas are best eaten the day they are baked, however you can reheat conchas on day two in a microwave just for 15 seconds. Conchas will keep for about two days (three, if you don’t mind a slightly stale concha) in tightly sealed plastic bags just on your kitchen counter or elsewhere the conchas can stay at room temperature.