There are a lot of things I miss about Austin, where we spent the better part of 10 years before relocating temporarily to Seattle – barbecue, fresh tortillas at every grocery store, breakfast tacos (NOT breakfast burritos, thankyouverymuch), and Mexican bakeries. True story – two weeks into a misguided ketogenic diet experiment, I began having extremely vivid dreams of pan dulce. Not bread, not cake, not my beloved jelly beans and peanut butter cups, but sugar-sparkling Mexican pan dulce – I could actually taste and feel the buttery crumbs on my lips, rushing to stuff my face as fast as I could before my carb-y reverie ended with the morning light. On the last morning of my self-imposed sugar purgatory, I woke up and drove straight to the nearest Mexican bakery. Nothing has ever tasted as good as that first bite of the pink sugary crust on my post-keto concha.
October is an excellent time to visit your local Mexican bakery, as you are likely to encounter the seasonal king of the pan dulces, Pan de Muertos (bread of the dead), which is traditionally made in the weeks leading up to the Day of the Dead (November 1).
It is rich with butter and eggs, and while flavors can vary by region and family, most recipes I’ve seen use some combination of orange, anise, cinnamon, and vanilla. The loaves are decorated with dough “crossbones” and a generous coating of plain or colored sugar.
In this version, I’ve doubled down on the orange flavors and used a combination of orange zest, extract, and orange blossom water, along with aniseed to flavor the dough, and vanilla sugar to add extra richness to the sweet, sparkling top.
The dough will be very soft and sticky before its first rise. You can add up to 30g (~1/4 cup) of flour if it hasn’t started to pull away from the sides (see below) after the first 12 minutes of kneading – resist the temptation to add more as you run the risk of making the bread too dense and tough.
Pan de Muertos
Slightly adapted from Bake from Scratch
Ingredients
- 450g all-purpose flour
- 65g granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp aniseed
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp water
- 75g unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 1/2 tsp orange extract
- 2 tbsp orange blossom water, divided
- 1 heaping tbsp orange zest
- 1 packet vanilla sugar (see notes below)
Directions
- In bowl of stand mixer, whisk 125g flour, 65g sugar, yeast, salt and aniseed.
- In a small saucepan, heat water and butter until just melted. Stir in 1 tbsp orange blossom water and add to flour mixture. Using a paddle attachment, beat at medium speed until just combined. Add eggs, orange zest and orange extract, beat until combined. Put mixer on low speed and slowly add 280g flour, stopping when just combined.
- Switch to a dough hook attachment and beat at low speed until a soft dough forms and begins to pull away from the sides (at least 15 minutes). If dough is still very sticky by 12 minutes of kneading, add up to 30g additional flour little by little.
- Lightly oil a large bowl and put dough inside, turning to coat. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Punch dough to deflate, cover again and rest for 5 minutes. Turn dough to a lightly floured surface and cut off 200g. Set aside and cover. Shape remaining dough into a smooth round and place on baking sheet.
- Divide reserved dough in half, these will become the “bones”. Roll each half into a 6-inch log, then pinch and roll in center to create two logs connected with a thinner center. Repeat on either side of the center to end with four sections. Repeat with other section.
- Brush top of prepared loaf with water. Place one “bone” across the top, and the second at a 90 degree angle to the first, crossing at center. Cover and let rise again until almost, but not fully, doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
- Preheat over to 350F.
- Bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes.
- Microwave remaining 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp orange blossom water on high in 15-second intervals, stirring between, until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.
- When you are ready to serve, brush the cooled loaf with sugar syrup and immediately douse in vanilla sugar.
Vanilla sugar packets can be found in well-stocked grocery stores in the baking section and in European/Russian specialty shops, the most common brand I’ve seen is Oetker.
The sugar on top of the loaf will dissolve fairly quickly, so wait until you are ready to serve the bread to do step #13.
