We have been into the fruit stuffed pan dulce lately and we’ve brought you another Artisan Bakery original! This Danish is filled with albaricoque (apricot) and manzana (apple).

The apricot is a popular dessert flavor, also used in jello, chocolate apricot tarts, or stuffed apricots with cream and pecans.

As we approach week 52, there are many types of pan dulce yet to explore! By now, hopefully you have understood that bread is as important to the Mexican culture as is the tortilla.

And next time someone walks in with a big box of pan dulce, you can express your inner child, find your favorite and lick it and saying “It’s mine!” so nobody touches it (yes people do that!).

¡Buen provecho!

Low and behold we thought we had covered the most popular pan dulce, but this orange panque must have slipped past our radar. While originating from the English pound cake, this piece is found in most every bakery in Mexico. Panque (pronounced panˈke) is a phonetic Spanish pronunciation of “pound cake.”

The pound cake recipe was said to be created in Europe in the 1700s and was named for its ingredients: a pound each of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. (It does appear in American cookbooks just about as far back however).

There appears to be some debate about whether flavorings were used in the original recipe (many recipes call for rose water or grated lemon peel).

We’ve kept a flavor popular in Mexico – orange – where this fruit is grown abundantly. Each year, around 4 million tons of oranges are produced as the 4th or 5th largest grower in the world (depending on your source) after countries such as the US and Brazil.

Be on the lookout in October again for our traditional Pan de Muerto, which has a hint of orange blossom!

¡Buen provecho!

In week 1 we went into detail about the empanada with our pumpkin empanada (year-of-pan-dulce) you can catch up on our website at artisanbakeryinc.com/year-of-pan-dulce. (Basically any filling with dough wrapped around that is portable!).

The pineapple started its journey as a native plant in South America and made its way northward to Mexico where it was cultivated by the Mayans and Aztecs as a rich nutritional addition to their corn based diet. Today nearly 100,000 Mexicans depend on the pineapple (canned and fresh) industry for their livelihoods. Mexico mainly grows two varieties, the Cayenne and the Sugar Loaf, which can weigh up to ten pounds. Mexican pineapples are usually picked at 25% maturity, when one fourth of the outer surface has turned yellow.

Mexican cuisine uses the pineapple in both savory (pineapple chicken, tamales, pineapple and cheese on the grill), sweet foods (candied fruit), and beverages such as agua de piña (pineapple water). During Lent (the time before Easter which started yesterday), it is cooked with lentils and spices to make a savory dish and fermented to make the slightly alcoholic and very refreshing drink called tepache.

¡Buen provecho!

In some of our pastries we have an identity crisis not knowing whether to call them by their Spanish or English name! This yummy delight just rolls better right off your tongue in English.

Nor is it originating in Mexico – the cinnamon roll is said to have been first made in Sweden, where it also contains a hint of cardamom. It has gained popularity in Mexico, similar to the US, with the commercial company Bimbo stocking pre-packaged varieties in groceries and convenience stores.

Our take on this Saturday morning favorite is not a heap of glaze, but rather a long soak in a delicious rum sauce. Hmmm..maybe we should keep going on the path to soaking in tequila!

¡Buen provecho!

A delightful pastry combining sweet bread and the favorite dulce de leche filling used around Mexico and Latin America in desserts, pastries, pancakes, muffins or just plain ol’ eaten by the spoonful.

The word almohada is synonymous to pan dulce itself, being derived from a mixing of cultures. Coincidentally, we follow our Arabic roots from last week, as almohada is Arabic in origin. When the Arabs invaded the Iberian peninsula in 700, they left many words picked up by the Spanish. Almohada comes from the classic Arabic mihaddah, whose root hadd which means ‘cheek’, with the entire word meaning ‘mattress to recline the cheek’.

Then on to the dulce de leche, a gooey sweet made by slowly heating sweetened milk. Many countries in Latin America profess to have invented this treat as well as a European claim that Napoleon’s cook accidentally invented dulce de leche by heating up milk and sugar for too long. In fact, Argentina attempted to declare dulce de leche as Argentinian cultural heritage before UNESCO in 2003! They were unsuccessful.

Don’t put your head to rest on this pastry, but after a cold glass of milk you might just be ready for a siesta or a good night’s sleep!

¡Buen provecho!

The elements of the pecosa pan dulce are very traditional to Mexico, yet their combination is not always found in Mexican panaderias (bakeries). The bread and flavors are those of the concha, while the seasame seed topping gives rise to the name pecosa (freckled).

When the Spanish brought seasame seeds to Mexico, they quickly became an ingredient used in dishes throughout the country, showing up in both sweet (pan dulce, candy) and savory fares (a key ingredient in the sauce of the national dish, mole poblano). Today Mexico is one of the top growers of seasame seeds in the world.

In Mexico sesame seeds are called ajonjolí, derived from the Arabic jaljala which means “echo” and refers to the rattling of the ripe seeds within the seed pod. When the seeds reach maturity, the pod literally splits open. Perhaps you’ve heard the term “open sesame” (the magic phrase for Ali Baba in the Arabian Nights tales to find hidden treasure), an appropriate command!

¡Buen provecho!

“Bésame, Bésame mucho…” the opening lyrics to one of Mexico’s most famous songs, “kiss me, kiss me a lot”, set the stage for our brightly colored pan dulce this week (strawberry kiss).

Often this pastry is called a kiss because of the bread rolled in sugar and butter, with a brightly colored jelly filling. We’ve mixed that idea with our two versions (look back to the Yo-Yo of Week 13), this week’s being completely a colored hue rolled in coconut!

Since it is the season for love and friendship – a few more interesting facts about the musical hit Bésame Mucho. It was written in 1941 by Consuelo Velázquez, a concert pianist, when she was about 25 and, as she said had never been kissed. The lyrics have an urgency – Kiss me, kiss me a lot, as if tonight were the last time – and became a sort of anthem for separated lovers during World War II.

The song is distinctly Latin, but has been translated into at least 20 languages and performed by hundreds of artists from the Beatles to Nat King Cole to orchestras worldwide.

Grab your friend or special someone and enjoy this pan dulce together!

¡Buen provecho!

A light pan dulce for this chilly week, the laurel takes its name from the shape of the victory laurel wreath. In some parts of Mexico it is known as the cuello, for its similarity to the collars worn by the Spanish during the colonization of Mexico.

While the shape is taken from the Spanish, the type of dough this pastry is made from originates from the French puff pastry. (See Week 5 – Oreja). The puff pastry is layers of dough and fat and when in the oven, the water in the dough turns into steam and delicately puffs up each layer.

The Mexican variation is called Apastelada and is made slightly different. The concept of thin layers with something in between is the same, but instead of butter, flour is placed in between the layers. Still the pastry rises, but in a more compact way.

This pan dulce is a completely new and Artisan Bakery original creation! So new in fact that we haven’t had time to give it a properly creative name, so we’re just calling it like it is – Fig..Danish. The Danish style bread (Week 6) with the same figs (but chopped) which are traditionally used in the Rosca de Reyes bread at the beginning of January (hope you tried Week 26!).

Grab your coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and…

¡Buen provecho!

This pan dulce is a completely new and Artisan Bakery original creation! So new in fact that we haven’t had time to give it a properly creative name, so we’re just calling it like it is – Fig..Danish. The Danish style bread (Week 6) with the same figs (but chopped) which are traditionally used in the Rosca de Reyes bread at the beginning of January (hope you tried Week 26!).

That being said – there’s not much to say on the tradition of this particular piece yet, but perhaps someday it will live in history as a delicious sweet bread that got its start after a busy Rosca holiday when the bakers looked at each other and said “oops – what are we going to do with these extra boxes of figs? Can’t save them until next January!” ?

Then again, perhaps we should call this a “traditional” bread – as likely some other bakers have encountered the same situation and contributed to making the over 2,000 different types of Pan Dulce. Here’s to number 2,001!

¡Buen provecho!

Magdalenas are traditionally a small muffin/sponge cake, often lemon flavored, made in special muffin tins that create a seashell-shaped cake. They originate in France and Spain.

As European cuisine blended with the Mexican culture in the 1800s, flavors and pastries also blended. This resulted in many Mexican pastry recipes with French techniques and indigenous Mexican ingredients. The Mexican tradition uses the shape of a concha and a coconut flavor for these Magdalenas.

¡Buen provecho!