Recipe : Pan de Muerto

🎃👻 Halloween, All Saints’ Day or… Día de los Muertos?

While in many countries the end of October is associated with spooky costumes and candies, in Mexico,it’s a very special celebration: El Día de los Muertos. November 2 is marked by an explosion of colors and joy of living. The theme remains death, but it’s all about showing love and respect for those who are no longer with us.

And to share a sweet moment in memory of beloved ones, guests are treated with “Pan de Muerto”, a brioche sprinkled with sugar and traditionally flavored with the essence of orange blossom and orange 🍊. Decorated with dough bones, its round shape symbolizes the cycle of life.

👉 Direct from Mexico, Master Baker Ricardo Garcia brings you his recipe for Pan de Muerto. Link in bio

Are you ready to enjoy a piece of ancient, symbolic tradition? 🍞

“Pan de Muerto” recipe by Ricardo D Garcia J.

Ingredients :

• Flour – 1000g
• Liquid egg yolks – 380g
• Sugar – 300g
• Butter – 350g
• Fluid whole milk – 170g
• Salt – 18g
• Orange zest as you like it (6 large oranges / kg flour)
• Sweet dough yeast – 15g
• Sourdough (at 10% of the rest) – 150g

Dough preparation

• Mix the flour, yeast, milk and sourdough in the bowl of a mixer. Leave to rest for 40 minutes.
• After 40 minutes, add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on first speed for 1 minute.
• Add the egg yolks and continue mixing for 3 minutes.
• Switch to second speed, gradually add the butter and mix until the dough has reached 90% development.
• Return to first speed and add the orange zest to finish developing the dough. The final temperature of the dough should be 26°C.

Fermentation

• Remove the dough from the bowl, leave to rest for 20 minutes, then make a first fold. Leave to rest again.
• Make a second fold, then chill the dough.
• Leave to ferment in the refrigerator for 12 hours at a temperature of 5-6°C.

Shaping and baking

• After 12 hours, take out the dough. Weigh and ball the dough, reserving a portion for decorating the pieces.
• Divide the decoration part into small balls. Form the dumplings into a sausage shape and flatten them with your fingers into canillas (bones). Brush with water and place the “bones” on top (4 in all); place the dumpling on top in the center. Glue with water. For large pieces form a round knob on top to represent the skull.
• Leave the pieces to ferment at 35°C with 70% relative humidity until they double in size, or leave them at room temperature covered with cling film, near a source of heat and away from draughts.
• Bake at 170°C for around 25 minutes (depending on size).
• Once baked, brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Note: if you decide not to use sourdough, add 3-5 g extra yeast and 50 ml water, or as much as you need.

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