Dead-on Delicious

In Mexico, all souls celebrate Dia de los Muertos with this rich, sweet bread.

October 28, 2007|Adam Ried

In Mexico, All Saints and All Souls days, November 1 and 2, are celebrated as Dia de los Muertos - day of the dead - an annual chance for the living to party with the spirits of their deceased loved ones who return to earth for a brief visit. No somber occasion, this - Dia de los Muertos is a fiesta! The living create elaborate altars, or ofrendas (offerings), to welcome the returning souls, and both streets and cemeteries brim with revelers.

Whimsical skeleton figures called La Calavera de la Catrina animate the celebrations, and, of course, food plays a central role. The living prepare the favorite dishes of the honored dead, often including tamales, a candied pumpkin sweet called calabaza en tacha, and skull-shaped candies. The most important symbolic food is an egg- and butter-rich, anise-scented sweet bread called pan de muerto, which translates to "bread of the dead." Sometimes the loaves are round and sometimes they are shaped like skulls, and they're always decorated with pieces of dough fashioned to look like bones. The loaves are taken to the cemeteries to share, symbolically, with the departed - almost like a picnic with the great beyond.

PAN DE MUERTO(BREAD OF THE DEAD)
MAKES 2 SMALL LOAVES

1/4 cup anise seeds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated zest from 2 large oranges
1/2 ounce (2 packages or 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour, plus extra for work surface
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 egg yolks, with one of the whites reserved and refrigerated, plus 2 eggs, lightly beaten together
1/2 teaspoon vegetable, corn, or canola oil

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 2 tablespoons anise seeds and 3/4 cup water to a boil. Remove from burner, cover, and let steep about 10 minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the water and discarding the seeds.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and zest until sugar is moistened and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of anise seeds, yeast, salt, and 3 cups of flour, and beat to mix, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on low, add the reserved anise water and melted butter and beat until incorporated, about 45 seconds. With the mixer still on low, add the yolks and beaten eggs and beat until incorporated and dough is sticky, about 1 minute. With mixer on low, slowly add the remaining 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until fully incorporated.