Recipe from Guadalupana Bakery
Adapted by Rachel Wharton
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus 1 hour for rising
- Rating
- 4(80)
- Notes
- Read community notes
You’ll find this pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, at the center of the elaborate Day of the Dead altar festooned with sugared skulls, flowers and other mementos of the family’s departed. —Rachel Wharton
Featured in: Pan de Muerto Is Bread That Gets Into the Spirit
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Ingredients
Yield:Three 7-inch rounds
- 560grams (4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 100grams (½ cup) plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1½teaspoons salt
- 29grams (1 ounce) fresh cake yeast (available in some supermarkets and specialty food markets)
- 4large eggs
- ½cup plus 2 tablespoons lard, softened, plus additional as needed
- 1cup whole milk
- 1large egg white (optional)
- 1tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
- 1tablespoon melted shortening (optional)
- 1tablespoon sugar or cinnamon-sugar (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)
1479 calories; 60 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 25 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 197 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 51 grams sugars; 36 grams protein; 1049 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Mound 560 grams of flour in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with ½ cup of the sugar and salt. Add yeast, breaking it up with your fingertips. Mix lightly.
Step
2
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In the well, add eggs and ½ cup of the lard. With your fingers or a wooden spoon, slowly draw flour into eggs and shortening until they’re mixed into the flour. Gradually add the milk. The dough will be messy and very sticky.
Step
3
Flour a work surface heavily, and have more flour ready to use. Turn dough onto the surface and begin to knead aggressively, sprinkling with flour liberally until dough is soft, smooth and supple, and rebounds after a touch. Divide into four equal pieces and form into smooth rounds. Allow to rest in a warm spot for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a large baking sheet with lard.
Step
4
Once they have rested, gently flatten three of the four pieces into 6-inch rounds, patting them around the edges so they retain a slight dome in the middle. Place them on the baking sheet several inches apart; if necessary, use more than one sheet. To the fourth piece, add remaining 2 tablespoons lard, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour, kneading until well incorporated. This is for decorating the rounds with the traditional skull and crossbones; it will be supple but stiffer than the bread dough.
Step
5
To make the crossbones decorations, divide the decorating dough into three equal sections. From one section, break off a ball about 1 inch in diameter and set aside. Divide the remaining part of that section into two, rolling each into a rope a few inches long, with some parts of the rope fatter than the others. (Do this by gently rolling the dough with your hand outstretched, with only the three middle fingers touching the dough, so that the dough between your fingers is puffier than the rest.) Cross the two “bones” in an “X” across a round of bread, and place the small ball of dough in the center. Repeat with remaining dough. Set the breads aside to rise for one hour. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step
6
The bread may be baked plain, or gently brushed with egg white and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Bake until browned and fragrant, about 45 minutes, or until it produces a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. If baked plain, it may be brushed afterward with melted lard and dusted with sugar or cinnamon sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ratings
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Cooking Notes
Dwight C.
Come on. I can't believe that there is no equivalent given for those of us who only have active dry yeast. I've been baking for over 50 years and I've never used cake yeast,This would be especially useful now, in the Covid-19 era. Who is going to traipse around looking for cake yeast, when there isn't even any active dry yeast on the shelves. I had a hard time even finding baking powder, and feel lucky to have flour.
Janet
Check out the Red Star Yeast website. They have conversions for cake yeast to dry yeast.
Kerry
King Arthur's website says to multiply the amount of cake yeast by 0.4 to get the amount of active dry yeast to use.
Dawn
Note: The recipe leaves out the orange zest or orange blossom water which is part of the traditional bread.
Em L
Yeast conversion references:https://redstaryeast.com/yeast-conversion-chart/https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/pro/reference/yeast
S Whatley
The recipe from the Washington Post is so much better. It uses butter instead of lard and has orange zest and anis in it which gives it a wonderful subtle flavor.
R
How many grams of lard?
EN
How far ahead can I make this?Does anyone know?
Dawn
Note: The recipe leaves out the orange zest or orange blossom water which is part of the traditional bread.
Gayle
Any substation suggestions for lard?
Betsy
butter or ghee can be substituted for lard....and some folks might use vegetable shortening....you might consider browning the butter (and then cooling it) to provide a "meatier" flavor
Dwight C.
Come on. I can't believe that there is no equivalent given for those of us who only have active dry yeast. I've been baking for over 50 years and I've never used cake yeast,This would be especially useful now, in the Covid-19 era. Who is going to traipse around looking for cake yeast, when there isn't even any active dry yeast on the shelves. I had a hard time even finding baking powder, and feel lucky to have flour.
Janet
Check out the Red Star Yeast website. They have conversions for cake yeast to dry yeast.
Kerry
King Arthur's website says to multiply the amount of cake yeast by 0.4 to get the amount of active dry yeast to use.
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