Pan Telera (Mexican Sandwich Bread)

I'm a self confessed bread maniac. I adore it. I don't just love eating though... I love to bake it, smell it, look at it, crack through the crust of it, butter it, shop for it, share it, watch people make it, admire it, tear it, toast it, travel the world to sample all the different incarnations of it, dream about it, read recipes for it, search the web for it, stuff it, fill my shopping basket with it, lick my finger and pick up the crumbs of it. I'm a lost cause. 

Pan Telera

Makes 8

slightly adapted from here

10g fresh yeast

400ml lukewarm water

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

500g baker's flour

2 tablespoons lard

Put the water into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Crumble the yeast in and stir to dissolve. Add the sugar, flour and salt and mix on low speed for 5 minutes, until it becomes a smooth dough. Add the lard in small pieces and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a ball and pop it back into the bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Divide the dough into 8 even portions, roll them into oval balls and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Use your hands to flatten them out a bit, then press two deep tracks along the length of the bun using the handle of a wooden spoon. Turn the buns over and do the same to the other side. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave to rise for 40 minutes. Press once more with the wooden handle in the same tracks, brush with water and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool on a wire rack.