The holiday season always puts us in the mood for extra sweets this time of year. But if you are getting tired of the same old sugar cookies and fruit cake, take a peek at this delicious Pan Dulce recipe from Uruguay!

Uruguay is a wedge-shaped country located in South America bordered by Brazil to the North and Argentina to the south. In Uruguay, every single house has its own individual name. The national anthem is the longest in the entire world and shares the claim to the origin of Tango along with Argentina. If that isn’t enough, in 2009, Uruguay became the first country in the world to provide every school child with a free laptop and Wi-Fi access. 

Pan Dulce From Uruguay (Panettone)

Pan Dulce, or Panettone, is a light towering bread filled with nuts, fruits, and sometimes chocolate. The origins of Panettone stretch back over 2,000 years to the Roman Empire where the ancient Romans sweetened leavened bread with honey. Since then many varieties have been made all around the world. We will focus on one variation colloquially known in Latin America simply as “Pan Dulce” translated in English as “Sweet Bread”. It originally was widely consumed throughout Catholic communities on Christmas Eve after sunset to break from a day of fasting and is now associated with Christmas forevermore. 

Ingredients

• 500g 000 Flour
• 2 Large Eggs
• 200 ml warm milk 
• 1 tsp salt
• 85g caster sugar 
• 80g of room temperature unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 tsp Orange Blossom Essence 
• 30g fresh active yeast
• 250g mixed nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts)
• 2-3 tbsps lemon juice
• ¾ cup icing sugar (also known as powdered or confectioners sugar)

Method 

• In a mixing bowl dissolve 5g of caster sugar in 60 ml of warm milk. Then add 30g yeast and 15g (approximately two tbsp) of flour, combining together until you have a smooth texture. Cover bowl with a dry cloth and set aside for 15-20 minutes depending on the temperature of the room.
• In a large mixing bowl mix the remaining 485g of flour, 80g caster sugar, and salt. Then add the remaining 140ml warm milk, two eggs, butter, vanilla extract,  orange blossom essence and the yeast mixture.
• Mix all the ingredients by hand or spatula in the bowl until thick enough to remove onto a floured surface. 
• On a floured surface knead the dough gently for 15 minutes adding small amounts of flour if the mixture is too sticky. Separate the dough into two evenly sized balls into a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.
• Flatten out the first ball of dough into a large square. 
• Sprinkle half of your mixed nuts evenly over the surface and lightly press them into the dough.
• Fold the dough top over bottom and then left over right, gently kneading the nuts into the dough for about a minute or until the nuts are starting to show through the dough. 
• Form the dough into a ball and place in paper baking sleeve
• Repeat the process with the other dough ball and remaining nuts. Cover Both sleeves with dry cloth and let rise for 1-1.5 hours depending on the temperature of the room.
• Place the two paper baking sleeves on a baking tray in an oven preheated to 180 C degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. 
• Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly before adding icing.
• Place icing sugar into a small mixing bowl and whisk in 2 tbsps of lemon juice until a viscus white glaze is formed. If the mixture is too thick continue slowly adding the remaining tsp of lemon juice until desired consistency is achieved.
• Once the Bread is cooled drizzle the glaze evenly over both loaves. 

Little hands can

2-4-Year-olds

• Add pre-measured sugar to milk and mix
• Add pre-measured dry ingredients into mixing bowl
• Help transfer yeast mixture into a big bowl
• Help mix all the ingredients in the bowl
• Mix lemon juice into icing sugar (under adult supervision)
• Sprinkle mixed nuts over top of the dough
• Drizzle glaze over top of bread (under adult supervision) 

5-7-Year-olds 

• Pre-measure all ingredients into separate bowls
• Crack eggs into bowl and remove shells (under adult supervision)
• Add pre-measured sugar to milk and mix
• Add pre-measured dry ingredients into mixing bowl
• Help transfer yeast mixture into big bowl
• Help mix all the ingredients in the bowl
• Mix lemon juice into icing sugar (under adult supervision)
• Sprinkle mixed nuts over top of dough
• Drizzle glaze over top of bread (under adult supervision) 

7+

Pre-measure all ingredients into separate bowls

• Crack eggs into bowl and remove shells (under adult supervision)
• Add pre-measured sugar to milk and mix
• Add pre-measured dry ingredients into mixing bowl
• Help transfer yeast mixture into big bowl
• Help mix all the ingredients in the bowl
• Mix lemon juice into icing sugar (under adult supervision)
• Sprinkle mixed nuts over top of dough
• Drizzle glaze over top of bread (under adult supervision) 
• Knead down on floured surface (under adult supervision) 
• Separate the dough into balls (under adult supervision) 
• Knead the nuts into dough (under adult supervision) 

Did you enjoy this Pan Dulce recipe from Uruguay? You may also like these recipes on our Bébé Voyage blog!

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