The Mexican Bakery Masterclass Series
Chapter 6: Pan Fino
Chef Alex will walk you through the A-to-Z process for preparing pan fino dough, delicious fillings, and traditional shaping techniques to create elotes, cuernitos, troncos, and empanadas that rival the best Mexican bakeries.
(The Capote Masterclass for Chapter 6 will be available at a later date.)
Here's What’s Covered - Timeline
Note: References to page numbers in the masterclass do not correlate to the book’s recipes. See recipes starting on page 100 in The Mexican Bakery.
08:32 - Essential equipment and mixer attachments
08:12 - Understanding instant yeast and the importance of temperature control in dough
14:55 - Ingredient functionality for pan fino
18:20 - Preparing the pan fino dough and using the right mixing techniques to build the proper gluten structure
30:40 - Create the signature sugar fillings for the pan fino varieties
39:38 - Learn to work with the pan fino dough to prepare the dough pieces for fermentation
50:35 - Preparing elotes (corn on the cob): filling preparation, shaping, and decorative scoring
1:07:27 - Making troncos (tree trunks) and achieving the characteristic “bark” texture
1:12:34 - Forming cuernitos (bullhorns) with proper rolling and tapering methods
1:21:55 - Preparing the pumpkin filling, assembling, and sealing the empanadas de calabaza for a perfect bake
1:37:05 - Bake-stable filling variations for empanadas
1:52:40 - Revealing the final bakes & best practices for the perfect finish
2:07:00 - Finishing the elotes, cuernitos, and troncos with a sugar topping