Pan de Muertos (Day of the Dead Bread)
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 3 hrs 40 mins
Active: 25 mins
Makes: 2 loaves
During the Day of the Dead festivities in the first two days of November, graves are decorated with flowers and offerings of food and drink in honor of the departed, including this pan de muertos, a yeasty, sweet egg bread flavored with anise.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon anise seed
- 2 packets dry yeast
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 4 large eggs
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons water
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, anise seed, and yeast.
- Heat milk, water, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is just melted; do not allow it to boil. Add milk mixture to dry mixture and beat well with a wire whisk.
- Stir in eggs and 1 1/2 cups of the flour and beat well. Add remaining flour, little by little, stirring well with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured wooden board and knead for 9 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic, and no longer sticky. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and allow it to rise in a warm area until it has doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
- Heat oven to 350°F. Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. Cut 3 small (1-ounce) balls from each half and mold them into skull-and-bones shapes. Shape large balls of dough into round loaf shapes, and place skull-and-bones on top. Place breads on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise another hour.
- Brush loaves with egg yolk mixture and bake at 350°F. Halfway through baking, about 20 minutes, remove loaves from oven and brush again with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. Return to oven and bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about another 20 minutes.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
Some orange flower water or esence is a nice addition. I usually make this bread with a sponge dough method. A small portion of the total liquid, about 2 cups of the flour, and about 1/3 as much yeast are mixed and left to rise about an hour. Then add the sugar, eggs, butter, flavorings, salt and the rest of the flour.
The sugar is best applied *after* the breads are cooled, by brushing lightly with vegetable oil and applying sugar. (slightly coarse, if possible.)
Using milk and butter is nice, but not very Mexican, IMO.
The picture linked here shows some of my more successful results.
http://www.pbase.com/panos/image/3570...
These next ones are in la Panadería Rivepan, in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. http://www.pbase.com/panos/image/5094...
Lighting conditions were challenging.
very attractive for the holiday
Is this bread used as a breakfast or dessert? Or not eaten, just used to decorate?
It is both used as an offering to visiting spirits of dead relatives and placed on home altars ... not technically a decoration ... the living also enjoy it too, often eating it with hot chocolate ... more here ...
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/398693
It's delicious eaten at breakfast or dessert, but the best time would be for "merienda", the meal beetween lunch and dinner, (not quite popular or possible anymore). At that time you'll probably be stuck in traffic or the "Metro" on your way home...