7 favorite recipes for celebrating Day of the Dead

Earlier this month Arturo Enciso, baker-owner of Gusto Bread in Long Beach, showed me how to make pan de muerto. Pan de muerto is the ritual Day of the Dead sweet bread decorated with “bones” — or some say they’re the tears of Aztec goddess Chīmalmā, who cries for the living when their loved ones have departed.

For years I’d wanted to learn to make this particular pan dulce. Especially after Food editor Daniel Hernandez told me about pan de muerto parties where friends get together to shape the dough and eat the breads fresh from the oven with hot chocolate or champurrado. I want that!

Gusto Bread owner Arturo Enciso bakes pan de muerto incorporating his sourdough starter, egg yolks and butter, scented with fennel and orange zest.

(Shelby Moore / Los Angeles Times)

Like the Día de Muertos holiday, pan de muerto merges post-Columbian tradition with cultural practices in place before colonization — the pastry techniques of Europeans and the belief that an offering of the bread will help feed spirits on their journey to the underworld.

True to the ethos and flavors of Gusto, Enciso uses sourdough starter in his pan de muerto. For anyone who didn’t take up sourdough baking in 2020, this isn’t a barrier to entry. Lots of local bakeries, including Gusto, now sell starter in case you don’t have any on hand. And because Enciso’s pan de muerto is leavened with a sponge — the bread-baking term for a mixture of flour, milk and yeast — you could skip the sourdough starter.

The crossbones that serve as decoration take practice to shape, but photographer Shelby Moore captured exactly how Enciso does it, rolling logs of dough into knobby bones. That’s probably the trickiest part of making pan de muerto — and it hardly has to be perfect.

If you’d like to celebrate with a Día de Muertos feast, this year writer Paola Briseño-Gonzales is making mixiotes. Hers is chicken marinated in a bright adobo, topped with slices of butternut squash, wrapped and tied in a bundle of parchment paper, then steamed. Traditionally, it’s wrapped in the thin film of leaves or stalks from agave plants, then steamed or cooked in a pit. “Mixiote” is derived from a Nahuatl word and refers to both the material it’s wrapped in (mexiotl, or the outer skin of agave leaf) and the dish itself.

On honoring the memories of her loved ones, Briseño-Gonzalez writes, “It’s a chance to cook and gather their favorite foods: mole Poblano, corundas (triangular tamales wrapped in fresh corn husks from Michoacán), ‘sopa Maruchan’ (instant ramen), chocolate, camote enmielado con leche (candied sweet potato with cold milk).” The spirits take with them enough provisions for the entire year so they can come back again for the holiday.

Here are seven favorite L.A. Times recipes for celebrating Día de Muertos.

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Guava Mole With Chicken and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Regional Mexican mole de frutas uses seasonal fruit for fragrant, vibrant sauces. This mole de guayaba combines guajillo chiles with blistered tomato, onions and garlic and is perfumed with poached guavas, oregano, cinnamon and crushed cloves. Sesame seeds thicken the mixture, and overripe plantain creates a silky texture. Writer Paola Briseño-Gonzalez serves it with poached chicken or a slow-roasted salmon and says you can’t go wrong.
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Cook time: 2 hours 45 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.

(Andrea D’Agosto / For The Times)

Butternut Squash Flautas With Salsa Verde

The fall filling for these flautas is butternut squash, cooked until creamy yet retaining a firm texture to bite into. Roll tortillas around the squash filling, then fry them until crispy. A drizzle of cream, a showering of salty feta and spoonfuls of a bright, fresh raw salsa verde make this a celebratory vegetarian dish.
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Cooking time: 55 minutes. Serves 4.

(Silvia Razgova / For The Times)

Mixiotes de Pollo (Parchment-Wrapped Chicken)

This is one of the most comforting dishes you can eat at a market in Mexico City, especially on a Sunday morning, says Paola Briseño-Gonzalez. For mixiotes, chicken, lamb or rabbit is slathered in adobo and wrapped and steamed in parchment paper. The name comes from the Nahuatl word mexiotl, the leaves of the agave plant. The outer skin is separated from the leaf of the plant and used for cooking. So the word mixiote refers both to the cooking method and the dish. Honeynut, butternut or acorn squash makes a great addition to soak up the adobo that transforms into a delicious brothy salsa.
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Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes plus marinating time. Serves 6 to 8.

(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)

Gusto Bread’s Pan de Muerto

Arturo Enciso of Gusto Bread makes these fluffy sweet breads, scented with orange zest and fennel, for celebrating Día de Muertos at his bakery in Long Beach. They’re enriched with egg yolks and butter and turn out big and soft — and tangy with the help of a little sourdough starter. Shaping is easy once you get the hang of it — and forgiving even if you don’t.
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Cook time: 3 hours 30 minutes (including rising times). Makes 6 large panes de muerto.

(Shelby Moore / Los Angeles Times)

Capirotada Tropical (Bread Pudding With Guava and Apricots)

This sweet bread pudding is luscious without the help of custard — it’s soaked in a piloncillo syrup instead. It gets its tropical flavor from poached fresh guava, dried apricots and nuts. Use your leftover pan de muerto, or challah.
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Cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes. Serves 12.

(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)

Champurrado

Wes Avila, the chef behind Guerrilla Tacos, Angry Egret, Ka’Teen and now MXO, spikes his champurrado — a warm, homey drink made with masa and chocolate — with pineapple juice.
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Cook time: 1 hour. Serves 4.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Atole de Fresas al Rescoldo (Maize and Charred Strawberry Drink)

Carlos Salgado, chef of Taco María in Costa Mesa (a restaurant he closed last year), makes atole with masa, charred strawberries, vanilla seeds, cream and milk. Strawberries are charred directly over coals, which lends the drink its unique smoky, fruity flavor. Served warm, it’s delicious with pan de muerto.
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Cook time: 35 minutes. Makes 2 quarts.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)