El Pan De Muerto Recipes

PAN DE MUERTOS (MEXICAN BREAD OF THE DEAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
• In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
• Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly then brush with glaze.
• To make glaze: In a small saucepan combine the 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

EL PAN DE MUERTO

Steps:

• In a saucepan over medium flame, heat the butter, milk and water until very warm but not boiling.
• Meanwhile, measure out 1-1/2 cups flour and set the rest aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1-1/2 cups flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and sugar.
• Beat in the warm liquid until well combined.
• Add the eggs and beat in another 1 cup of flour.
• Continue adding more flour until dough is soft but not sticky.
• Knead on lightly floured board for ten minutes until smooth and elastic.
• Lightly grease a bowl and place dough in it, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.
• Punch the dough down and shape into loaves resembling skulls, skeletons or round loaves with"bones" placed ornamentally around the top.
• Let these loaves rise for 1 hour.
• Bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for 40 minutes.
• Remove from oven and paint on glaze.
• Glaze: Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then apply to bread with a pastry brush.
• If desired, sprinkle on colored sugar while glaze is still damp.

PAN DE MUERTOS ( DAY OF THE DEAD BREAD)

Steps:

• Mix all dry ingredients together except the 4 1/2 cups of flour.
• In small pan, heat the milk, the water, and the butter.
• Add liquid mixture to the dry mixture.
• Beat well.
• Mix in the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Beat well.
• Put in rest of flour, little by little.
• Knead the mixture for 10 minutes.
• Put dough in bowl and allow to rise until has doubled in size, or about an hour and a half.
• Punch dough down and reshape it with some "bone" shapes on top to decorate it.
• Let rise another hour.
• Heat 1/2 cup sugar and the 1/3 orange juice over stove until melted.
• Brush over dough.
• Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes.

PAN DE MUERTO

Steps:

• For the Starter: Whisk together milk, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Whisk in flour. Cover with a clean kitchen towel; set in a warm, draft-free place and let stand until mixture begins to bubble, 20 to 25 minutes.
• For the Dough: Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add orange-flower water, orange zest, anise seeds, eggs, flour, sugar, and salt and beat on low speed until combined. Scrape bowl and beater and switch to the dough-hook attachment. Beat on medium speed until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and starts to make a slapping sound, 10 to 12 minutes.
• On low speed, add butter in four to six additions, incorporating each before adding the next. From time to time, scrape down bowl. When all of butter has been added, increase speed to medium and beat another 8 to 10 minutes, until dough slaps against bowl again. (It will still be sticky, but don't be tempted to add more flour.)
• Butter a large bowl. Shape dough into a ball and place in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Gently deflate dough with your fist, gather it into a ball, and turn over, so bottom is now on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours, and up to overnight.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and set, still covered, in a warm, draft-free spot until it comes to room temperature and rises, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Turn dough out of bowl. Cut off a quarter of dough and divide into two equal pieces; set aside. Divide larger piece of dough into two equal pieces, shape each into a ball, and place on separate baking sheets.
• To make skull and crossbones, cut one of smaller pieces of dough into three equal pieces. Shape one piece into a ball for the skull. For the bones, roll the other two pieces into ropes and pinch at intervals, so they look like joints. Repeat with other smaller piece of dough. Flatten one of smaller dough balls into a 6-inch round. Place 2 bone strips on top of a large dough round, crossing them to make an X and pressing them lightly into dough. Place "skull" in middle and press down lightly to secure. Repeat with other round of dough. If dough seems sticky, dust lightly with flour. Cover breads lightly with kitchen towels and let rise in a warm, draft free spot until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°F, with a rack in middle. Bake, one loaf at a time, until lightly browned on top, 25 minutes. Cover bread loosely with foil; bake another 25 minutes, or until bread is dark golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. Let cool on wire racks.
• For the Topping: Meanwhile, brush about a quarter of the top of one bread with melted butter and immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar, so it adheres before butter cools and dries. Continue with rest of bread, then top second bread. Let topping cool before slicing. Wrapped in foil or in a cake keeper, bread will stay fresh up to 5 days.

PAN DE MUERTO

Steps:

• Pulverize fruit or herbs in a blender until very finely ground. Transfer to a small bowl and whisk in ½ cup sugar. Sift through a fine mesh sieve, discard any large pieces of fruit or herbs and store sifted fruit sugar in an airtight container until ready to use.
• Whisk milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer (alternately, use a large bowl to knead by hand). Let sit 10 minutes to dissolve, you will see a few bubbles but mixture won't be foamy and that's ok. Whisk granulated sugar, salt, eggs and zest in a small bowl.
• Add milk powder, 3cups flour, and egg mixture to yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Transfer to stand mixer and fit with dough hook. Mix on medium speed until dough comes together but is still slightly tough, about 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and add butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time (dough will look broken after each addition, but it will eventually come together), until dough is smooth, elastic, and very tacky but pulls away from sides of bowl, about 12 minutes. This may seem like a long time, but the texture of the bread improves with a long knead time. (Alternatively, knead dough on a lightly floured surface, adding 1 Tbsp. butter at a time, until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes.).
• Lightly butter a large bowl. Scrape dough into bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm, draft-free area until doubled in volume, 35-50 minutes. This is one of those times when the visual cues outweigh whatever your kitchen timer says. If allowed to overproof, this dough will start to smell like alcohol and develop off flavors. Check it at 35 minutes: It should smell buttery and yeasty, and if it's doubled, it's done. If not, check again in 10 minutes.
• Gently deflate dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall back into bowl, turning bowl and repeating if needed. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and chill at least 12 hours and up to 3 days (an overnight rest works great).
• Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper; lightly coat parchment with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Then tear off a tablespoon-sized piece of dough from each piece and set aside. Re-shape the larger 8 pieces into a smooth round balls and transfer to the prepared sheet spaced evenly apart.
• Pinch off a ½ teaspoon-sized piece of dough from each of the remaining smaller 8 pieces. Roll each tiny piece into a smooth round ball and transfer to the second prepared sheet in a single row on one of the narrow ends spaced about 1" apart.
• Divide remaining 8 pieces of dough in half; you should now have 16 small pieces of dough. Working one piece at a time, roll using the palm of your hand into a 3" thin rope. Use your index finger to roll and press the center of the rope so that the middle is thinner and both ends are thicker. Next, use your two index fingers to roll and press the centers of the two thicker ends so that the centers are thin and the ends are thicker. The dough should look like a rope of 4 links of sausage, these are the bones. Carefully transfer to second prepared sheet tray and repeat with remaining dough spacing evenly apart on prepared sheet. Spray two large sheets of plastic wrap with non-stick spray and loosely cover. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until almost doubled in size, about 1½ hours.
• Position a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°. Remove plastic wrap and carefully pick up one of the bones, lifting from the ends (it will stretch and deflate slightly). Drape over one of the larger dough rounds, positioning at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. Repeat with second bone, positioning at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. Carefully place one of the small balls in the center, at the point where bones overlap, gently pressing edges of the ball into bones and larger ball, crowning the loaf.
• Bake until deep golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan and brush with melted butter and immediately sprinkle with fruit sugar. Let cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour before serving.
• Do Ahead: Bread can be made 3 days ahead; let cool completely before storing and keep tightly wrapped at room temperature.