Dia De Los Muertos

One of my favorite parts of fall is that you have three days of holidays in a row. Once the excitement of Halloween has past you still have two days of Day of the Dead to celebrate. For those of you who live in places that don’t observe Day of the Dead, or El Día de los Muertos,  it is a two day holiday that takes place on November 1st and 2nd. The holiday is more widely celebrated in Mexico and Latin America as a time to commemorate friends and family who have passed.  It may be called The Day of the Dead but it’s more of a celebration of life and the relationships that people form. Peter and I don’t go all out for Day of the Dead but I love the pressed sugar skulls, bright flowers, and delicious Day of the Dead bread. Yesterday, we drove all over Austin on a quest to buy some of this bread. We found it in two places but my favorite was at La Mexicana Bakery. The  bread is honestly my favorite part of this holiday, especially since you can only buy it on two days of the year.  In my Google search to find a loaf in Austin I came across a recipe from Chow to make some of your own. Now that we have this, I’m sure that Peter and I will bake it year round.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon anise seed
  • 1/2 ounce (2 packets) active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons water

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Combine sugar, salt, anise seed, and yeast in a small mixing bowl. Heat milk, water, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is just melted; do not allow it to boil. Add milk mixture to dry mixture and beat well with a wire whisk.
  2. Stir in eggs and 1 1/2 cups of the flour and beat well. Add remaining flour, little by little, stirring well with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.
  3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured wooden board and knead until it is smooth and elastic, and no longer sticky, about 9 to 10 minute . Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and allow it to rise in a warm area until it has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
  4. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. Cut 3 small (about 1-ounce) balls from each half and mold them into skull-and-bones shapes. Shape large balls of dough into round loaf shapes, and place skull-and-bones on top. Place bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise another hour.
  5. Brush loaves with egg yolk mixture and bake. Halfway through baking, about 20 minutes, remove loaves from oven and brush again with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. Return to oven and bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about another 20 minutes.

Visit Chow for this great recipe and thousands more! How do you celebrate Day of the Dead?

Image courtesy of Lucinda Hutson.

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