Here you have my version on how to make Day of the Dead Mexican Bread, I hope you can give it a try!
Ingredients:
- 4 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 5 Large Eggs
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 125 g Melted Butter
- ¼ cup Fresh Orange Juice
- ¼ Cup Lukewarm Water
- Zest of 2 Oranges
- 1 ½ Tsp Rapid Rise Yeast
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- ½ Tsp Nutmeg
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Aniseed (optional)
For garnish:
- 1 beaten Egg
- Granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
In a small bowl combine the lukewarm water with the yeast, mix until dissolved, then also add in a ⅓ of a cup of flour, stir until well incorporated, then set this aside for about 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
After 30 minutes. Place the rest of the flour in a large bowl, try to push all the flour to the sides of the bowl, so you will have an empty space right in the center of the bowl. Right in there, in the center we are going to add in the yeast mixture, and over the yeast mixture we are going to add in the eggs, one at a time, and stirring each egg for a bit before adding the next one, you want to slowly incorporate the eggs with the yeast mixture. Try to avoid the flour for now, just work right on the center of the bowl .
After the eggs, now, also right in the center, add in the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, zest of 2 oranges, granulated sugar, orange juice and the melted butter. Stir until combined, and then slowly incorporate the flour into this ingredients.
Once all the dough comes together, now transfer it to a floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes of active kneading, now place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
After 2 hours, transfer the dough onto a floured surface, punch it a bit just to get some of the air out. And then divide the dough into 4 sections, one of the sections should be slightly smaller than the other three.
Shape the three bigger sections into balls, you want them to be nice and round. (those would be our bread). Place them on a baking sheet, mine is lined with parchment paper.
Now with the rest of the dough make the decorations. Each bread will have 2 bones and one head. To make the bones, just grab some of the dough and roll it until you get a long rope, about half and inch thick. You will need two ropes for each bread. So make six of them. And then to make the head, just grab about 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons of the dough and roll with your hands to form a ball. That. will be head, and you need one for each bread. So make three of them.
Now to glue the decoration. Just brush a bit of water on the bread right on the spot that you will place the decoration. And place the decoration on top. Press it a bit. Place two ropes on each bread to form an X and then right on the center of the bread, place the small ball, use some water to glue it in place.
After they are all done, cover them with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for another hour.
After an hour. Preheat the oven to 340ºF. Brush the bread with a beaten egg. Baken them at 340ºF for 25 minutes or until cooked.
After they come out of the oven, brush them with melted butter. And sprinkle them with plenty of granulated Sugar.
Enjoy!
