1. Dissolve the yeast in some of the lukewarm water. Mix the flour with the sugar and salt, add the eggs, the yeast water and the remaining water and knead for 10-15 minutes into a very elastic, smooth, soft dough; cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
2. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and on an oiled worktop roll each out very thinly, almost transparent, then stretch it out with your hands (like strudel pastry).
3. Spread the sheets thinly and evenly with the soft, room-temperature lard, then roll them up tightly from the long side into thin ropes.
4. Coil the ropes into spirals, loosely, as they'll grow when rising; place on a lined baking tray, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours (overnight) until tripled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 °C; lightly spray the tops with water and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
6. Serve cooled, generously dusted with icing sugar, with coffee or hot chocolate.
Tip: The name comes from "saïm" (lard) – it can be made with butter, but the original Majorcan ensaimada gets its flaky lightness from lard.
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