Pan de Muerto in Alexandria

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, October 29th, 2009

What with Day of the Dead (Día de Los Muertos) festivities sharing a weekend with Halloween, the un/dead have an exhausting social agenda to keep this year.

As some readers may know, the Mexican holiday takes place the first two days of November and is a celebration and remembrance of relatives and friends who have shuffled off this mortal coil.

And apparently the dearly departed are hungry, since honoring loved ones involves delivering favorite foods such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead), as well as flowers and other gifts to the remembered’s final resting place during the holiday.

Those who are gone to reward can thank Carlos, owner of the La Mexicana Bakery in Alexandria, for living  fat and happy in perpetuity.

He has been doing a  brisk business in pan de muerto every November since 2001. This year he’s got two flavors, anise and vanilla, and will be making the bread fresh today and tomorrow. Though he doesn’t know exactly how many loaves of the skull and cross bone bread he churns out every year, he never has any inventory left over. “We sell the whole thing,” he says.

If you’re planning your own Day of the Dead soiree, the recipe below can get you on your way to enjoying the sweet, eggy yeast bread. Eat now or in the afterlife. (Recipe from seriouseats.com).

–Amy Loeffler

Frida Kahlo’s Pan de Muerto

- makes about 30 mini loaves -
Adapted from a recipe found in Animal, Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

Ingredients

7 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus extra for flouring your work surface
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 packages active dry yeast, dissolved in 5 tablespoons warm milk
12 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange or lemon zest
Gel icing and sprinkles, for garnish (optional)

Procedure

1. Put sifted flour and granulated sugar in a large bowl; mix lightly to incorporate.

2. Cut in the butter using your hands until it is well incorporated (you may have little pebble-sized nuggets which form; this is OK.

3. Form a little well in the center of the mixture and pour in the yeast and milk mixture, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Add the eggs 2 or 3 at a time, mixing by hand or with an electric mixer after each addition. Once all of the ingredients have been added, work the dough with your hands until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it is too sticky, add a little bit more flour until the dough is easily handled. Shape the dough into a ball, and lightly grease the surface; place it back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size. Once the dough has doubled in size, put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or even overnight).

4. Divide the dough into balls roughly the size of peaches, but make sure to leave a sizeable chunk of dough to the side so that you can form various embellishments and decorations to put on each mini loaf. Traditionally, you would shape and decorate the dough in a way that reminds you of deceased ancestors, but if you want to honor Frida for the fantastic recipe, go ahead and roll the ball of dough into an oval, adding two “wings” of dough on top to form her traditional hairstyle, two dots for eyes, a thin rope for her mouth, and–most importantly–a thick rope in the shape of a “v” for her prominent brow.

5. Place your masterpieces on greased or parchment-lined baking sheets and let them sit for about an hour–they will probably rise a bit more. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until golden on top.

6. While your loaves are cooling, make the glaze (it’s optional) by bringing orange juice, orange or lemon zest and sugar to a boil for about 2 to 3 minutes or until it has started to thicken and reduce a bit. Apply directly to the still-warm bread using a pastry brush.

7. If desired, add additional Frida-inspired flair by using sprinkles and gel icing to accentuate her signature features on the mini loaves once they have cooled.

Tags: Day of the Dead, La Mexicana Bakery, pan de muerto