A few weeks ago when I realized that Día de los Muertos was coming up, I decided to try baking Pan de Muerto for the first time. I found a recipe from Fany Gerson on the Fine Cooking website that looked quite promising and yields two loaves of bread.
I made the and kneaded the dough in my Kitchenaid stand mixer. You combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and salt) and then add in all of the liquid components (active yeast dissolved in warm water; milk and butter that have been heated with some orange zest; eggs; and some vanilla extract and orange extract that I substituted for orange blossom water). I kneaded the mixture with a dough hook and added some additional flour (about 3/4 cup) until I had a smooth and only slightly sticky dough.
I let the dough rise in an oiled bowl until doubled. To shape the loaves, you reserve a bit of the dough, divide the remainder in half, and shape each half into a round loaf. You use most of the reserved dough to form knobby ropes that resemble bones, arrange them on top of the loaves, and let the dough rise again until doubled. You form the remaining reserved dough into balls that you attach on the center of each loaf and bake until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees (this only took 40 minutes for me).
I was so pleased that the decorations on the loaf -- the "bones" on top -- retained their distinct undulating shape during baking. After letting the loaves cool briefly, I brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled granulated sugar on top. I thought the bread looked fantastic -- just as beautiful as the loaf pictured in the photo accompanying the recipe.
When I cut into the completely cooled loaves, I was gratified that the inside of the bread also looked perfect. It had an even and soft crumb that reminded me of white sandwich bread. I cut each loaf into 12 wedges. The bread also tasted like enriched sandwich bread, with a touch of orange flavor and sugar crunch added. I mean that as a compliment. I am not ashamed to admit that Wonder Bread was one of my favorite foods while I was growing up. To this day, I still love plain toasted supermarket white bread. And this bread had the exact same texture.
Of course, the touch of sweetness and light orange flavor made this a definite step up from Wonder Bread. But I couldn't help thinking that this pan de muerto would be fantastic toasted and topped with jam. It tasted fantastic plain. I thought it was simply delightful.
Recipe: "Pan de Muerto" by Fany Gerson, from Fine Cooking.
I made the and kneaded the dough in my Kitchenaid stand mixer. You combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and salt) and then add in all of the liquid components (active yeast dissolved in warm water; milk and butter that have been heated with some orange zest; eggs; and some vanilla extract and orange extract that I substituted for orange blossom water). I kneaded the mixture with a dough hook and added some additional flour (about 3/4 cup) until I had a smooth and only slightly sticky dough.
I let the dough rise in an oiled bowl until doubled. To shape the loaves, you reserve a bit of the dough, divide the remainder in half, and shape each half into a round loaf. You use most of the reserved dough to form knobby ropes that resemble bones, arrange them on top of the loaves, and let the dough rise again until doubled. You form the remaining reserved dough into balls that you attach on the center of each loaf and bake until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees (this only took 40 minutes for me).
Of course, the touch of sweetness and light orange flavor made this a definite step up from Wonder Bread. But I couldn't help thinking that this pan de muerto would be fantastic toasted and topped with jam. It tasted fantastic plain. I thought it was simply delightful.
Recipe: "Pan de Muerto" by Fany Gerson, from Fine Cooking.
Comments