In Mexico, they are colorful and in imaginative shapes in the display of the bakeries: pan dulce – sweet rolls. Of course, what looks so appealing does not remain hidden for long: foodies have long since developed a taste for the sugar-sweet pastries and are busy baking the Mexican specialty.
That’s behind Pan Dulce
Pan Dulce is baked and enjoyed by Mexican families, especially around Christmas time. The Spanish word “pan dulce” means sweet buns – and that’s exactly what you taste when you bite into the pastry. The small pieces of dough are baked with a fine layer of sugar, which is often brightened up with bright food coloring.
Mexicans usually eat their pan dulce for breakfast – in combination with hot cocoa or coffee. But the colorful pastries are also popular at night.
The sweet variants
Pan Dulce is not only available in a wide variety of colors, but also in a wide variety of shapes! These include, for example, conchas – Spanish for mussels. These sweet, sugar-crusted buns are served in the shape of mussels by decorating their tops with the appropriate designs.
Polvorones are also particularly popular. This rather flat and wide variant of the pan dulce is often served at weddings and nibbled there. Of course, they also shine in the brightest colors.
The Pan Dulce recipe
For those who would like to try pan dulce at home, here is the recipe for about twelve small buns.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 100 grams of sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- 200 ml lukewarm water
- 1 tsp dry yeast
- 500g flour
For the icing:
- 50 g vegetable fat
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 100 grams of sugar
- 100 grams of flour
- 3 tsp vanilla sugar
- Food coloring to taste
Preparation:
- Beat the sugar, eggs, and salt until creamy.
- Stir in the water and dry yeast and beat until creamy.
- Gradually add the flour to the mixture and stir to form a dough.
- Cover and let the finished pan dulce dough rise in a warm place for about an hour.
- Now divide the dough into about twelve rolls of the same size, shape them nicely and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Leave again for an hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sugar crust. Mix the vegetable fat, icing sugar, sugar, flour, and vanilla sugar together.
- If you like, you can now mix the topping with the food coloring. To do this, divide the sugar mass into the number in which you want to use the different food colors. With liquid food coloring, you should start with one or two drops.
- Divide the colored sugar crusts into twelve parts and form into small balls.
- Now put the topping on the warm dough of the twelve-pan dulce and gently press flat until the surface is covered.
- Imaginative patterns can now be modeled on the sugar crust with a sharp knife.
- Now bake the twelve pan dulce at 180 °C for about 15 minutes. Make sure to let it cool down before eating!
