Pan de Muerto

 

Also known as Day of the Dead Bread. Recipes for this baked treat vary by region. The most common version is round, sweet, and shaped to look like it has bones on top.

It is usually coated with sugar on top and some areas use pink or red sugar.

The special flavor is a combination of a few ingredients: orange blossom water, orange zest, and star anise.

Ingredients

  • 1 packet (7 grams) of active dry yeast

  • 1 tbsp flour

  • 1 tsp granulated sugar

  • ⅓ cup whole milk, warmed to 110 to 115 degrees (hot enough to have your pinkie in without burning)

  • 1 tsp orange blossom water (can be subsidized with vanilla extract)

  • 3 cups flour + up to ½ cup as needed

  • ½ cup granulated sugar + ¼ cup to decorate

  • 2 tsp orange zest

  • 1 tsp ground star anise

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes + 2 tbsp melted and cooled to brush over the finished loaves

  • 1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

Instructions

Make the dough

  1. Mix yeast, flour, and sugar in a small bowl. Add liquids: milk and orange blossom and mix. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it foam for about 5-10 minutes in room temperature.

  2. In the mixer bowl add 3 cups of flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 tsp orange zest, 1 tsp ground star anise. and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Attach the dough hook and mix on medium speed until well combined.

  3. Mix in 3 large eggs and foamy yeast until you start seeing the dough form.

  4. Change the mixer to high speed and gradually add the 6 tbsp of butter until combined. Then continue mixing for about 10 minutes until you have a sticky dough that clings to the hook. If needed, gradually add more flour to the mix - add as little as you can.

  5. Remove the dough from the mixer and place it in a well-greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and allow it to rise for about 1-2 hours or until it doubles in size.

Shape the bread

Once the dough doubles in size, move it to floured surfaced (so that it doesn’t stick) and shape it to look like the bread.

  1. Form a big ball (with the seams hidden under) with the remaining ⅔ of the dough.

  2. Cut off ⅓ of the dough and save it to make the ‘bone decorations’.

    1. Cut it into 3 equal parts

    2. Make 2 long strings to shape as bones and place over the bread

    3. Take the last piece and form it into a crown to be placed on top of the bread

  3. Cover the bread with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Bake the bread

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Bake bread for 20-25 mins or until brown.

  3. Let it cool on a wire rack

  4. Once cool, spread the melted butter using a brush and add the sugar using a sifter.

  5. Eat!

 
 


 
Maya Lotanday-of-the-dead-2022Comment