Pan de Muerto

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 tsp Orange Extract
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/2 tsp Anise Seeds
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups flour

Egg Wash

• 1 Egg yolk
• 2 tsp water

Orange Glaze

• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Orange zest
• 3 Tbsp Juice from the orange

Directions

Mix together the eggs and warm water, on the stove melt the butter once melted add the sweetened condensed milk and let that warm up, once it is warm add to the water and egg and beat that together with one cup flour and yeast. Take the remaining flour and lay that on top of the yeast mixture and let that sit for about an hour.

After you have let the mixture sit add the salt and anise seed and the orange extract and mix together till the flour is wet, let this sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Kneed the dough for about 7 minutes, you may need to add a little more water you want the dough to be just slightly sticky. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise till doubled in size about 30 minutes to an hour.

Punch dough down, and cut out 3 small balls from the loaf (about 1 tablespoon each). Roll out 2 of the dough balls to form the "bones" Shape the remaining dough into a round loaf. Gently press the bones on top of the loaf crossing each other to make an "X" roll the remaining small dough ball to form the skull and press down in the middle of the "X". Place loar onto a prepared baking sheet and allow to rise about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash, bake for 20 minutes.

You can start making the glaze by miking all the ingredients in a small sauce pan on a warm heat.

Remove the loaf from the oven and brush with the egg wash once more. Return to oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Brush on the orange glaze and cover with colored sugar (optional), return to oven for an additional 5 minutes. Serve warm or let cool. Best when eaten the same day prepared.

Tips

• You can shape the dough and cover it and let it do a cold rise in the fridge over night.
• You can shorten the rise times by boiling some water and putting it in the oven with the dough, when you do this you don't have to worry about covering the dough.