Bread of the Dead

Pan de Muertos is a Mexican bread traditionally baked in late October/ early November as part of the Dia de los Muertos holiday. Here is a simple recipe to try yourself...

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of anise seed
2 tablespoons of orange blossom water (can be substituted for the anise seeds to add flavor)
2 packets of dry yeast
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of butter
4 eggs3-4 1/2 cups of additional flour
confectioner's sugar or colored sugar (optional)


Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together except the 3-4 1/2 cups of flour

2. In a small pan, heat the milk, the water, and the butter. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture.

3. Beat well.

4. Mix in the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Beat well.

5. Put in the rest of the flour, little by little.

6. Knead the mixture on a floured board for 9 - 10 minutes.

7. Put the dough in a greased bowl and allow it to rise until it has doubled in size (about an hour and a half).

8. Punch the dough down and reshape it as bones or easy shapes like hearts, or bones, or if you have molds you can use those to make skulls and/or just form medium sized round balls.

9. Let it rise another hour.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

11. After baking, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar and/or colored sugar.

If you are like me, with a tendency to burn things, you can just pick up an already made Pan de Muertos at Con Pane in Point Loma inside Liberty Station. They are baking loafs October 29th through November 2nd, and like all their other brioche's, are delicious, filling and affordable.