Pan de Muerto with a Mexican Hot Chocolate Filling
Description
This recipe came about from my partner complaining that it was not sweet enough. So, I decided to fill the bread with a spicy Mexican chocolate ganache. The result is a slightly gooey, delicious bun! The recipe makes one medium-sized bun but can be easily doubled to make more. I started small to practice the technique. I also think my ganache recipe could use some tweaking, so leave a comment if you have ideas! As for the history of the filling, I will go into the fascinating history of Chocolate in a later post :)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp Milk
- 2 tbsp Warm water
- 1.5 cup Flour
- 1/2 tsp Active dry yeast
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Anise seeds (optional)
- 1 Egg-beaten
- 1 tbsp Orange zest (zest of 1 orange)
- 1 Egg-beaten for coating the bread
- 1/4 cup Heavy cream
- 1 pinch Cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch Chili powder
- 1/2 cup Dark chocolate chips (or Mexican chocolate)
- 2 tbsp Orange juice
- 4 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 tbsp Orange zest
The Bread
Ganache
Glaze
Instructions
- Making the bread
- In a large bowl combine 1/2 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar (if using anise seeds, add here).
- Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts-do not boil.
- Remove from the heat and add the warm water.
- Add the warm milk mixture into the flour mixture. Then add the eggs and orange zest. Beat until well combined.
- Once combined, stir in the rest of the flour (1 cup) gradually, until a soft dough is formed. Add more flour or water to achieve the right consistency, if needed.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
- Grease a large bowl and place the dough in it, cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for an hour or two, until doubled in size. While resting, make the ganache.
- Punch the dough down to remove the air. Set aside 1/4 of the dough, for adding the decorative elements. Shape the remaining dough into a ball and then flatten. Add the chilled ganache to the center and pinch the dough around it, forming a ball. Place the ball seam-side down onto a baking tray (I use a baking mat so the bread does not stick). Place dough onto a baking sheet.
- Make the decorative elements. Use the 1/4 remaining dough to make 1 ball and 2 logs. The logs should be thin and pinched several times (think of making a play-dough snake and then roll your 4 fingers across the snake to make 4 depressions-here is a video showing the process, watch at minute 13). The finished product should resemble bones. Lay the 2 logs in a cross shape across the top of the bun and place the round ball in the middle.
- Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Use the 2nd beaten egg as an egg wash on top of the bun.
- Bake the bun in the oven for30 to 40 minutes (if you double the recipe the bake time will be longer). it is done when it is golden on top and sounds hollow when striking the bottom.
- Remove from oven and let cool slightly. While cooling, make the glaze. Once cooled (5 minutes), brush with the glaze and dust with sugar
- Making the ganache
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream and spices to a low simmer (not a boil).
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate chips.
- Stir to combine until a smooth and shiny ganache forms.
- Cover with plastic wrap and put the ganache in the fridge and let cool until it reaches a moldable consistency-about one hour.
- Shape into a small round ball and put it into the fridge until ready to use.
- The glaze
- Mix the powdered sugar with the zest and orange juice. Stir until smooth. Glaze!
- Sprinkle regular sugar on top.
Mexico, Day of the Dead, Orange, Bread