Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the two-day Mexican holiday, is an event to celebrate the dead. Recognizing death as a natural part of the human experience and part of the circle of life, ofrendas, cempazuchitl (marigolds) and calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls) are placed at the altars of deceased, as well as pan de muertos and the favorite foods of the dead.

Dia de Los Muertos celebrations have spread throughout Latin America and beyond, observed in Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Brazil, Guatemala, the U.S., the Philippines, Indonesia and countless other nations. Traditional foods are assigned for the Day of the Dead season. In Guatemala, mourners consume fiambre (a salad made with over 50 ingredients), which is made once each year. In Ecuador, ceremonial foods include colada morada, a spiced fruit porridge that derives its deep purple color from the Andean blackberry and purple maize, and it's paired with guagua de pan (bread shaped like a swaddled infant). The spirits are expected to eat the essence of the food, and after the holiday has passed, the living can consume whatever food is left behind.

Sweetened loaves of warm, egg-rich pan de muertos "bread of the dead" are traditionally a part of Día de Los Muertos. The bread is frequently made with anise seed and orange flavored water, and baked with a tear drop to represent Aztecan goddess Chimalma's tears for the living. Also, it's often adorned with bone shaped pieces, representing the difuntos or difuntas (the disappeared one), and the bones are arranged in a circle to portray the circle of life. The pan, which is also meant to represent the soil, is left at the altar or gravesite of the deceased. Some consume pan de muerto for months ahead of Día de Los Muertos, before they receive the spirits of los angelitos (dead children or "the little angels") and the adult souls.

Mole Negro de Oaxaca, sugar skulls (representing the vitality of life and individual personality), cotija cheese salad, calabaza en tacha (candied pumpkin), tamales, champurrado (Mexican hot chocolate), tostadas topped with avocado, jars of atole (hot cup of sweetened masa porridge), edible chocolate coffins and skulls and/or the favorite foods of departed loved ones are prepared in order to lure deceased loved ones back to earth, and feed and nourish their traveling souls. Additionally, spirits (the alcoholic kind) are placed at the altar. Bottles of tequila, mezcal and pulque are stationed there, and glasses of the drink are often enjoyed by the living as they toast the dead.

Día de Los Muertos is rooted in both Aztec tradition and Catholicism, and is celebrated on All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2). The food prepared during this season shares both origins, but it most closely resembles the traditions of the Aztecs, who developed Dia de los Muertos rituals 3,000 years ago.

Today, many prepare sugar cookie skulls in lieu of the traditional sugar skulls. Also, some prepare pabassinas (almond, raisin cookies), guacamole, elotes (roasted corn), horchata, pumpkin seed salsa, Mexican rice puddingor elaborate drinks to enjoy as part of the celebration of their loved ones.

"My grandmother passed three weeks ago. But we were prepared, and actually got to spend a lot of time with her," Vianney Rodriguez, blogger and co-author of "Latin Twist: Traditional & Modern Cocktails" told Latin Post. "So, when she actually passed it was really beautiful. Her funeral was a celebration. During Dia de Los Muertos, she always had her altar and every year my grandfather was really good about buying marigolds to decorate the altar. So, here, with the Dia de Los Muertos Martini, I allowed the marigolds to steep in the vodka for a couple of days and it turned into this beautiful marigold color.

"I actually dedicated my book to my grandmother. When I was little, my grandmother used to throw these amazing cocktail parties for her family, she was always 'the hostess with the mostest,' and my grandmother liked cocktails... that's why I dedicated this cocktail to her."

Rodriguez infused vodka with the marigold, and to capture her grandmother's scent of freshly picked flowers, she combined the marigold infused vodka with sweet Vermouth and a natural elderflower liqueur, producing a floral scent as the drink is sipped. After adding the elder liqueur, she shakes the martini, puts it in a glass and adds a chunk of dry ice over the glass, giving the Marigold Martini a smoky effect.

"When I took the picture [of the martini] and started editing it,my daughter told me it looked like [my grandmother's spirit]. The picture of it looks like dried ice is walking over the glass."

Learn how to make Pan de Muerto, Sugar Skull & Panqueques De Los Muertos below:

PAN DE MUERTO (published on Yes MorePlease.com, recipe by Mariana McEnroe)
Makes 3 -6" round loaves or 4- 4" little round loaves.

1 lb / 500 gr. unbleached all-purpose flour* plus 1/2-3/4 of a cup more flour for kneading adjustments, and dusting the table when kneading and shaping.
¾ cup / 200gr. Sugar.
¾ cup / 200 gr. Butter room temperature and cut into small chunks.
½ cup / 125ml. Whole milk
2 teaspoons dry active yeast or one little dry active yeast package of 7gr.
3 eggs
2 yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon orange blossom water /extracto de flor de azhar
1 teaspoon ground anise or seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
the zest of one orange

Directions:

Day one:

1. Mise en place all ingredients.
2. Start by warming the milk just about luke warm, add a teaspoon of sugar and sprinkle the yeast until blossom. About 10-15 minutes. The yeast should look foamy and creamy.
3. Meanwhile, on a clean flat surface make a "wheel" with the flour using your bowl to make a perfect circle.
4. Sprinkle the sugar around the flour wheel.
5. In the center add the eggs, egg yolks, spices, extracts, anise, cinnamon, salt.
6. Check on your yeast and if its ready add it to the center of the wheel.
7. Mix all this ingredients with a fork.
8. With your hand in a spider position, start incorporating little by little the flour from the edges. Be careful and gentle not to break the flour ring.
9. Start in circular motions all around the inner flour circle until you have fully incorporated all the flour and almost all the sugar.
10. Now using both hands start kneading into the butter. And at this point you can decide, mixing your dough by hand for about 20-25 minutes (which is hard work but I love the way the bread comes out tender crumb and the warm of your hands will soften the dough making it really smooth and shiny. Or using your mixer with a dough hook for about 10-15 minutes. Both routes work is just about preference and time. The key to making a good dough is to feel the dough. You can add up to 1/2 cup more flour if needed, if after a bit of kneading it feels to sticky, sprinkle 1/4 cup and knead, until your dough feels soft, smooth, fluffy. This dough is very easy to make and as soon is the right texture you will know. It will feel not sticky and it looks a bit shiny, as you can see on the last picture below. So be patient, give the love and knead gently and confident that everything will come out at the right time.
11. Once the dough is ready grease the inside of a bowl with butter and place the dough ball cover with plastic wrap and a towel and place it in a warm place overnight for 10-12 hours over night is great. You can plan ahead and make it over the weekend. Wake up Sunday or Saturday and bake your bread and have it for breakfast with a cup of warm cocoa or a late!

Day two:

For the Egg wash:
1 egg slightly beaten
a dash of heavy cream
For the Glaze:
1 teaspoon flour
1/4 milk
1 egg
sugar to taste

1. Punch dough down and knead briefly.
2. Flour a surface and cut into 4 equal parts.
3. Knead each part in circular motions. Until you have formed a round ball. Place it into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Knead 3 parts and save one to make the bones and skulls for the tops.
5. Divide this ball into 9 stripes and 3 small 1" balls equal sizes.
6. With fingers make a little cylinder and gently pressing in between your fingers make the bones.
7. Brush the top of the bread with egg wash and then proceed to place the bone stripes, top it with the skull ball. Egg wash it lightly.
8. Cover the tray with a piece of plastic wrap dusted with flour to prevent to stick.
9. Let the bread rise for a second time for about 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oven at 375F / 190C once the bread enter the oven lower it to 350F/ 175C and bake for 25-30 minutes.
11. Remove from oven brush them with the flour glaze and top with sugar, bake for 5 more minutes.
12. Pull them out of the oven, check the center to make sure it's thoroughly cooked.
13. Sprinkle a little more sugar and Cool them on a rack.


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SUGAR SKULLS:

3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg white

Directions:

1. Mix thoroughly until you have a mixture that resembles like sand.
2. Using a plastic mold pack the sugar and level it. Un mold carefully over a piece of tick cardboard and Bake for at least 1 hour on 200F/90C .Leave them air dry for an extra day.
3. Proceed and decorate with royal Icing and a little black coloring or melted dark chocolate.

This sugar skulls are not meant to be eaten, it is just for decoration since they will just taste like plain sugar...But you are welcome to eat them if you have a sugar tooth, have fun!


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 Panqueques De Los Muertos