Cemita Rolls/Mexican Cemita Sandwich Buns

Mexican Cemita Buns are used to make a sandwich which is very popular in the Puebla region of the country. There they make the Cemitas Poblana, which is a sandwich is filled with sliced avocado, meat, panela cheese or sometimes quesillo cheese, onions, a herb called pápalo and red sauce.These buns may look like regular sesame topped burger buns but they’re nothing like it. The Cemita, which is the name given to the bread and the sandwich made with it, is made with a brioche-like enriched dough that has a crunchy outside but is soft inside.Kenji Lopez-Alt whose recipe I adapted for my recipe, describes the Cemita as “sweet and savory flavor with a dense-yet-light crumb that can stand up to stacks and stacks of toppings without disintegrating or losing its tenderness”.

These buns are usually made with lard or butter but Kenji Lopez-Alt uses heavy cream in his recipe since he feels it produces a softer and richer crumb. I replaced the heavy cream with half cream  and half milk. I used 2 eggs but left out the egg wash and used milk instead. I also cut the sugar by half and left out the sprinkling of coarse sea salt. I also ended up using about 1/2 a cup more of flour than suggested because what we need to make Cemita buns is a sticky dough and not a wet dough. You might have noticed that am running a month of blogging marathon with A-Z baking around the world as theme, hence i was supposed to blog about the letter 'C'. Am posting this fantastic Mexican Sesame Seeds Sandwich rolls aka Cemita Buns under this theme.

3cups All-purpose flour

1/2cup Cream 

1/2cup Milk

2Eggs

1tsp Instant yeast

3/4tsp Salt

1+ 1/2tbsp Sugar

Milk for brushing

1/3 to 1/2cup Sesame seeds

Take the flour, the cream, milk, eggs, yeast, salt, and sugar in the bowl. Knead everything well until the dough turns sticky.

If the dough seems more batter like then add a little more flour until the desired consistency is achieved. Dont add more flour, however the dough will be sticky.

Transfer dough to a large mixing bowl, cover and let it rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Lightly flour the dough, then put it on your work surface. Lightly press down the dough and shape it into a thick rope. Cut this into 6 equal portions with a knife.

Shape the balls into smooth rounds and place them on a parchment lined baking tray, leaving a little space between them.

Cover and set aside at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour until they have risen a bit. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Brush the buns with milk and sprinkle the tops with a generous amount of sesame seeds. 

Lightly press the seeds well into the dough. 

Bake for about 15 minutes until they are done and the tops turns  deep golden brown.

Cool them completely on a wire rack before using. 

Conserve them in air tightened box and make sandwiches out of it.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 75

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