Ahhh….the monkeys off my back.

Not MY Monkeys, but this monkey, (my Monkeys are frequently on my back.)

The starfish. No more shall I go to sleep muttering the words…starfish, starfish….no more shall I wake with bleary eyes, poke around for my days clothing, and wander as if pulled by an invisible chain to the kitchen muttering…starfish, starfish…

After stumbling upon this post, mentioning it to Celia who in turn sent me the instructions, then prompted by Heidiannie, then again asked by Joanna, who also sent me this post….I really just had to do it then didn’t I.

Pan de Leche dough sounded right for it. Pliable, not as eggy as a challah, it rolled perfectly and tasted like brioche. Got to love anything that tastes like brioche.

Pan de Leche- the starfish

200mls luke warm milk

2 tps dry yeast

1 egg

100gms softened butter

1/4 cup raw sugar

450gms flour

3 tbs olive oil

1 tps salt

Mix yeast in luke warm milk and set aside for 10 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients together (I used a mixer with dough hook) and also adding milk. Once mixed together, knead well until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave until doubled in size. Divide dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion out into a long snake, (leaving one aside to become a disk). Each snake should be the same length.

From here on in please refer to these posts, (one and two) as they will describe what to do far better than I will. The only difference being for the centre, I made a dough disk of about 1cm high to fill in the hole and then wound round a three strand plait, then tucked in again for the centre. Just before popping it in the oven, I brushed it all with milk. Baked at 220C until tips golden and then turned the oven down to 180C for a little further cooking.