Cachitos de Jamón

(Venezuelan Ham Pastries)
 
Makes 16 cachitos, 287 calories each

Ingredients

 

Filling

500 g uncured ham

300 g uncured bacon

25 g unsalted butter at room temperature

 

Dough

500 g all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

50 g sugar

10 g active dry yeast

50 g unsalted butter at room temperature

1 egg at room temperature

Approximately ¾ cup warm water (around 110F)

 

Glaze

1 egg at room temperature

Shredded panela (about a tablespoon)

 

Instructions

The day before you plan to bake the cachitos, prepare the filling. 

 

Preparing the Filling

I like to use Krakus Original Polish Ham or the Kirkland Uncured Extra Lean Ham. In my opinion, this is what comes closest to the traditional taste of a Venezuelan cachito. If you are not Venezuelan, you can use any ham you like. 

 

Cut the ham and the bacon into 1 cm squares. Mix together with the butter. Then separate into 16 equal parts (about 50 g each) and form into “fingers” (see picture below).

 

Put all the “fingers” in a tray covered with parchment paper (see picture above) and put in the freezer for a few hours until frozen. After they are frozen you can put them in a bag and back into the freezer until you are ready to bake (see pictures below).

 

 

Preparing the Dough

Mix all dough ingredients until well combined. You might not need all the water, or you might need a little more water. It depends on your flour, your egg, and the humidity in your house. You don’t want the dough to be sticky. I mix the ingredients in a KitchenAid stand mixer, but you can also mix them by hand. After they are mixed, knead the dough for 10 minutes. You should end up with an elastic and smooth dough.

 

Note that we are not letting the dough rise at all. That is because traditional Venezuelan cachitos are supposed to have a thin dough and a lot of filling. If you are not Venezuelan or you don’t care about this, you can let the dough rise at this point. Let it double in size before you move on to the next step.

 

Divide the dough into four equally sized balls (see picture below). You can keep the balls you are not working with under a towel so that they don’t dry out.

 

Roll each ball into a rectangle, about 12 x 50 cm. The dough should be very thin (see picture above). Then cut the rectangle into four strips, about 3 x 50 cm. Don’t worry if they are not even, it won’t matter.

 

Take the filling out of the freezer and grab one of the “fingers.” Wrap a strip around the “finger” (see pictures below). Make sure there are no gaps. Fold the ends and make sure everything is closed (see picture below). Repeat for all 16 cachitos.

 

Put the cachitos on a baking tray covered in parchment paper (see picture below). Note again that we are not letting the cachitos rise, because we want the dough to be thin. But if you don’t care about this, this is the time to let it rise again until it doubles in size.

 

Glazing and Baking the Cachitos

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. 

To make the glaze, beat the egg, and add the shredded panela (you can also use melado de papelón if you have it). Mix well. Then use a brush to glaze all the cachitos (see pictures below).

 

 

When the oven is ready, bake the cachitos for 35-40 minutes, until golden (see pictures below).

 

 

When you take the cachitos out of the oven put them on a rack to cool. Be careful! The inside of the cachitos will be very hot!

 

Enjoy!