Pan de muerto
A bread baked for Día de Muertos and placed on altars for the dead, in a shape that is not arbitrary: by popular interpretation the ball in the centre is a skull and the strips around it are bones, laid towards the four cardinal points. The flavour hinges on orange blossom water, which with the zest gives this dough a citrus scent recognisable across Mexico in late October and early November.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Dough 30 min
- First rise 120 min
- Shaping the bones 30 min
- Second rise 70 min
- Baking 25 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneKnead the dough and work in the butter
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Combine the flour, eggs, yolks, yeasted milk, sugar, salt, orange blossom water, zest and anise and knead 10 minutes, then add the butter a piece at a time over another 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and starts to pull away from the bowl.
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 120 ml milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 100 g sugar · 130 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp orange blossom water · 1 pcs orange · 1 tsp anise
Butter piece by piece — the dough must clear the bowl.Rise two hours
Cover and leave 2 hours, until doubled. A rich dough with this much butter and egg rises slowly — do not force it above 28°C, or the butter starts rendering out.
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 120 ml milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 100 g sugar · 130 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp orange blossom water · 1 pcs orange · 1 tsp anise
Set aside a quarter for decoration
Knock the dough back and set aside a quarter — the bones and knobs come from it. Divide the rest into eight (about 100 g each) and shape smooth balls, tucking the dough underneath to tension the surface. Space them out on two lined trays.
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 120 ml milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 100 g sugar · 130 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp orange blossom water · 1 pcs orange · 1 tsp anise
Shape the bones with three fingers
From the reserved dough shape 8 small balls the size of a hazelnut, divide the rest into 32 pieces and roll them into thin strips about 10 cm long. Roll each under three spread fingers, creating bulges. It is the simplest way to make bones with knuckles — even and achievable first time.
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 120 ml milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 100 g sugar · 130 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp orange blossom water · 1 pcs orange · 1 tsp anise
Three fingers make knuckle-like bulges.Lay the bones towards four points
On each bun lay four bone strips radiating from the centre down the sides and stick a small ball where they meet. Fix them with water — pressing alone is not enough and the decorations fall off during proving.
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 120 ml milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 100 g sugar · 130 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp orange blossom water · 1 pcs orange · 1 tsp anise
Prove a second time
Cover loosely and leave 70 minutes, until the buns have visibly risen. Towards the end, heat the oven to 175°C. Do not glaze them with egg — pan de muerto is not meant to be shiny, since it is brushed with butter and rolled in sugar anyway.
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 120 ml milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 100 g sugar · 130 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp orange blossom water · 1 pcs orange · 1 tsp anise
Bake, brush with butter and roll in sugar
Bake 25 minutes at 175°C, until golden (if the trays do not fit at once, bake them one after the other). Straight away, brush the hot buns with melted butter and roll them in sugar, sides included. While hot, because sugar clings only to a warm, greasy surface — on cold buns it slides straight back into the bowl.
Ingredients: 80 g butter · 120 g sugar
Butter and sugar while hot — otherwise it will not stick.
Before you start
Orange blossom water is essential
It, not the zest, gives pan de muerto its recognisable scent. Middle Eastern and baking shops stock it. Without it you get a sweet orange bun — good, but not this.
Regional versions
In different parts of Mexico pan de muerto is also finished with pink sugar or sesame, and city bakeries fill it with cream or chocolate. The base dough stays much the same.
Two or three days in a bag
Thanks to the butter and eggs the buns stay soft for 2–3 days in a sealed bag. Going stale they make excellent French toast, or capirotada — the Mexican bread pudding traditionally eaten during Lent.
