NEVER Buy Pan de Muerto Again, Try This Old Mexican Trick

My mother's whole kitchen, every recipe and every measure, one book: berthascookbook com One honest thing: there is no pan de muerto in my book. My mother bought hers. The laws of dough are in the book, and I borrow every one of them here (pages 26, 208 and 209). THE TWO THINGS 1. AGUA DE AZAHAR. Orange blossom water, one tablespoon. Not the orange, the flower. That is the smell you could never name. 2. BUTTER LAST. Knead the dough smooth and stretchy first, THEN the butter, a piece at a time. Butter first is a dinner roll. THE RECIPE (makes 4 loaves) • 4 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, never scooped • 1/2 cup sugar • 1 teaspoon salt • 1 packet instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons) • 1/2 cup warm milk • 4 large eggs, room temperature • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, soft, cut in 8 pieces • Zest of 1 orange • 1 tablespoon agua de azahar (orange blossom water) • 1 teaspoon anise seed, optional, if your family uses it • For the top: 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup sugar • 1 beaten egg for the wash 1. Yeast into the warm milk with a pinch of sugar. Wait 10 minutes. It MUST foam. No foam, new yeast. 2. Flour, sugar, salt, eggs, zest, azahar and the foamy milk. Knead 8 to 10 minutes (6 with a mixer) until smooth and it stretches thin without tearing. NO butter yet. 3. Butter, one piece at a time. It will look ruined for 5 minutes. Keep going. At about 8 minutes it turns glossy and pulls clean off the bowl. 4. First rise, covered, warm spot, 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled. Cold kitchen? Oven off, light on. 5. Divide in 4. Pinch a golf ball from each for the bones. Round the loaves. Roll each bone rope under SPREAD fingers so it gets knuckles. Two ropes crossed, a marble of dough pressed on top. Refrigerate the tray 15 minutes so the bones hold. 6. Second rise, covered, 45 to 60 minutes, puffy. Brush with beaten egg. 7. 350°F, 22 to 28 minutes, PALE gold. It finishes on the tray. 8. While WARM, brush with melted butter and roll in sugar. Warm is when the sugar grips. IF IT WENT WRONG • Dense and heavy: dead yeast, butter went in first, or one rise instead of two. • Bones melted flat: dough too soft when shaped, or you skipped the 15 minutes cold. • Dry the next day: overbaked, pull it paler. And pan de muerto is a one day bread, even theirs. • Smells like orange, not October: you skipped the azahar. • Sugar slid off in patches: it was too hot when you rolled it. Tell me your county, and tell me two things: sugar or sesame on top, and who the bread is for this year.