Pan de Muerto

I got myself into a baking streak. I'm not sure what brings these spells on but I was under one the past two days. I guess the cooler weather blowing in might have prompted my urging to warm the house by putting baked goods into the oven.

It started simply enough. I made some basic pineapple turnovers. I made a regular pie crust dough. Rolled it out, cut into circles and filled with some pineapple tidbits that I thickened with a little corn starch and a sprinkle of sugar. They came out better than expected.

 Then came the larger project. I found a great recipe for Pan de Muerto. This time I had already found the illusive ingredient of Orange Blossom Water. I knew I could get it online but I finally snatched it up when I saw it at a store and kept it waiting until I was ready. Now I was ready.

I made a simple starter. It worked beautifully so I went along and added it to the six eggs, flour, butter, sugar, anise, salt and a teaspoon of the orange water. It already smelled delicious but needed two hours to rise and double. It did and then I formed it and let it rise another two hours. Baking took an additional 40 minutes and cooling on a rack another hour. It's quite the process but, for me, worth every waiting period in between.

For a first attempt it came out very well. Brown and crisp on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside. It was the original tastes of the traditional Mexican pastry breads and that's what I wanted to achieve. It worked. It was right. Taste the tradition.

I hope you enjoy the short video. It was more fun than posting picture after picture of what I made and it keeps me busy and my mind off of eating all the baked goods!

TT