Days of the Dead in English, because this ancient festival is held on two days. It is derived from the Aztec festival of Mictlan, honoring the Aztec goddess of the underworld, Mictecacihuatl and deceased loved ones. November 1 (All Saints Day in Christian culture) is reserved for deceased children and November 2 (All Souls Day) is to remember deceased adults. There are traditional foods associated with the festival, one being pan de muerto or “bread of the dead”. It is a sweet roll or bun, decorated with sugar in the shape of bones and tears, which represent the Aztec goddess’ Chimalma’s tears for the living.
Pan de Muerto
For the bread:
¼ cup butter
¼ cup milk
¼ cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
½ tsp salt
2 tsp anise seed
¼ cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp orange zest
For the glaze:
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup orange juice
1 TBSP orange zest
Directions:
1. Heat the milk and butter together in medium saucepan until the butter melts. Remove from heat and add warm water. It should be 110 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and ¼ cup sugar. Beat in warm milk mixture, then beat in the eggs, then the orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in ½ cup of flour and continue adding flour until dough is soft.
3. Turn dough onto softly floured surface and kneed until smooth and elastic.
4. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1-2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough on baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
5. Bake in a preheated oven (350F) for 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cook slightly, then brush with glaze.
6. To make the glaze, combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with 2 TBSP white sugar.
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