Pan De Muerte: Bread of Death
Pan de Muerte is a traditional sweet bread eaten for El Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, which is All Souls Day.
Note: The dough for Pan de Muerte can be used to make a number of sweet breads.
Ingredients
- 1/2 c warm water or milk
- 2 tsp dried yeast
- 2 1/2 c plain/AP flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 c white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 oz/1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for topping
- cinnamon sugar for topping
Method
Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water or milk, add a spoonful of flour and mix well. Leave until frothy.
Sift the flour, salt and sugar together into a large bowl. Add the 4 eggs and beat until smooth. Stir the melted/cooled butter into the yeast mixture; mix thoroughly. Add to the flour and eggs to form a soft dough. Knead on a floured board until smooth.
Separate a handful of dough from the main bulk. Shape into a ball or flat round loaf on a greased baking tin. Use the smaller portion of dough to make ‘bones’ by rolling strips and flattening the ends. Stick the ‘bones’ onto the loaf as desired. Alternatively, shape the whole batch into a figure decorated with dough bones. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until doubled in volume.
Oven at 350 F. Brush the loaf or figure with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 30–40 minutes (depending on the shape of the bread), until golden brown. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped underneath. Allow to cool on a rack.
Serve Pan de Muerte with Mexican Hot Chocolate.
# 1 by cutedrishti8
October 31st, 2009 at 4:53 am #
will try at home…thanks
# 2 by thestickman
October 31st, 2009 at 7:48 am #
The title caught my attention…
# 3 by historigal
October 31st, 2009 at 8:52 am #
Wow! there is such a thing. This is a very timely recipe. Thanks
# 4 by mo hoyal
October 31st, 2009 at 11:36 am #
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious sounding recipe. It is very much likened to our traditional Easter Portuguese Sweet bread that I was raised with. I definitely want to try this recipe, espcecially since I haven’t carried out with the Portuguese tradition. A wonderful article and recipe!
# 5 by Abdella
October 31st, 2009 at 4:00 pm #
We learned about this in Spanish II. Thanks for posting the recipe.
# 6 by Georgie Girl
November 1st, 2009 at 8:11 pm #
Hey cool! Bread of Death is just the sort of thing the kids like, isn’t it? Skull-shaped sounds like a good idea. A saver!
# 7 by Sharonne Mayer
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 pm #
Just love the title!