bake - September 2017 - 10

technical corner

One of the top-selling holiday periods of the year is fast ap-

"This is the offering," he says. "This bread represents celebra-

proaching for Hispanic bakeries across the country on Nov.

tion of the honored deceased."

1-2 when Día de los Muertos arrives. "During those days, we
hire more people because we have to make more product in

Beyond breads, you can create colorful displays leading up to

advance," says Jaime Suarez, owner of Panadería Tres Her-

Día de los Muertos by making cutout cookies decorated with

manos in Salinas, California. "We also decorate the store with

skeletons or skull designs. Candies molded or shaped into skel-

posters. It's one of the biggest days of the year for us."

eton heads are another creative way to feature an eye-catching
product display.

Other bakery owners share similar sentiments about the tremendous importance of this key holiday. Melesio Fernandez

Pan de Muerto

of Fernandez Bakery in San Jose, California, estimates they

Breads that are shaped to resemble bones (pan de muerto)

will sell 5,000 pan de muerto breads during Día de los Muer-

are the centerpiece of this holiday. Traditionally, pan de muerto

tos. His bakery uses a traditional Mexican recipe to make pan

is prepared with yeast-risen sweet dough and ﬂavored with

de muerto in both small and large sizes. "People are looking

orange emulsion (or orange zest), anise or ground cinnamon.

for the traditional breads during this holiday," he says.

Pieces of the dough are shaped into strips, or "bones," that are
layered on top of the round dough prior to baking.

The most familiar symbols of Día de los Muertos are skulls,
skeletons, angels, animals and faces of the honored de-

At Panadería Tres Hermanos #3, they make a unique ﬂavor of

ceased. At Garcia's Bakery in Sonoma, California, they make

pan de muerto by adding guayaba blended with evaporated

a creative type of bread for this holiday that is decorated

milk into the dough before it is baked. Pan de muerto can be

with hand-painted decorations of a face. The decorations

ﬂavored with a variety of ingredients such as almond extract,

are made of flour and painted by hand prior to baking for

raisins and cinnamon. Others make the dough with whole

one minute.

wheat ﬂour and ﬂavor it with orange juice.

Miguel Garcia, the owner of Garcia's Bakery, says he purchas-

For a ﬁnishing touch, the baked bread can be brushed with

es bags of these special decorations in advance from Oaxa-

melted butter and granulated sugar. Often, the sugar is colored.

ca, Mexico, where they are made, and stores them in a cooler

It is also common to use sesame seeds instead of sugar for the

to preserve them until needed. Typically, they place one

topping. Variations to the ﬁnished topping can include a ﬂavor-

decoration on the top of a special loaf bread in a celebration

ful glaze that is prepared by combining sugar, orange juice and

that is customary to his home state of Oaxaca.

orange zest and boiling the mixture to a glaze.

10 < SEP 2017 | bakemag.com

Pan De Muerto

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