Sharing Recipes and Traditions From Dia de Los Muertos with Samsung Appliances!
I have always had a passion for traveling and learning about other cultures. I believe this is in part, because I was exposed to other cultures and their traditions at a young age. I spent my Elementary school years in a Spanish Immersion program where my teachers spoke only Spanish to me all day. It was an amazing way to learn a language but as my teachers were all native Latin Americans I was introduced to the culture as well. We learned about the three kings at Christmas, were taught old Incan myths and shared in traditions around Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Our teachers would bring in traditional dishes for the holiday like “day of the dead bread”, marigolds and brightly decorated “bread children” to give us hands on experience with the culture.
Because I always felt a connection with the Latin American culture, In my early 20’s I purused an opportunity to live in Ecuador with a native family while teaching English for a number of months. During that time I was able to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos in Tulcan, which happens to be the most famous cemetery in Ecuador. People travel from all over to visit this elaborately decorated topiary near the Colombian boarder. The streets are full of parades, marigolds and venders selling traditional food like guagas de pan (bread children) and colada morada (a purple berry smoothie). I have so many sweet memories exploring the cemetery and going from vendor to vendor filling up on treats with my Ecuadorian family during that celebration.
Fast forward to my present life with a 4 year old and a baby. While it’s not as practical to travel the globe with my kids being so young, it’s still important to me to give them the opportunity to learn about others cultures in the same way that I did. One way I can do this is to share some of the traditions that have grown to have significance and memories tied to them for me. I love being able to bake little bread children and make Colada Morada with Ayla and tell her about the memories I have of Ecuador and my elementary school years. Our Samsung Flex Duo oven with Dual Door Freestanding Gas Range has made baking with my girls and passing on these cultural experiences so fun and easy!
I love that our Samsung Flex Duo oven allows us to convert one oven into two with the dual doors! It has two powerful convection fans so it cooks food faster and also more evenly which is perfect for baking! Before owning our Samsung I thought I was destined to burn everything I baked! In order to cook something all the way through the bottom or top would inevitably end up charred! I am so happy with how quickly Our Samsung Flex Duo oven cooks and I never end up with a burnt bottom on my baked goods! Our oven is also equipped with wifi and 5 dual power burners making it perfect for taking care of our growing families needs!
If you’d like to learn more about Samsung’s line of ovens you can find them here and if you’d like to make your own Guaguas De Pan with your kids and teach them a bit about another culture you can find my favorite recipe below. I promise your kids will love decorating the bread children and it will be the kind of activity that not only gives them a great cultural experience but creates lasting memories. Make sure you check out Samsung if your in the market for an oven and I hope you enjoy the recipes below!
Xo, Kelly
Guaguas De Pan (little bread children) Ingredient list:
• ¼ oz. active dry yeast (1 envelope=2 1/4 tsp=1/4 oz=7 grams)
• 1/2 cup warm milk + additional if needed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour + additional if needed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 oz. butter, unsalted, room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs yolks
• Icing, sprinkles, etc to decorate
Directions:
• Sprinkle the yeast over warm milk and dissolve well
• Whisk in ½ cup of the flour until you have a creamy paste. Let it rise in a warm place until the dough has risen and fallen, approximately 1 hour.
• If making the dough by hand: add the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and the remaining flour to the fallen yeast mixture. Combine well and add the butter. Knead the dough until the consistency is smooth and elastic. Add additional flour if the dough is too sticky. Add additional milk if it’s too dry.
• If making the dough with a food processor or mixer: combine the remaining flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in the food processor, pulse until well mixed or use a dough hook for the mixer. Add the butter and mix. Add the 4 eggs and mix. Add the yeast mixture and the vanilla Mix until the dough starts to form a large ball. If the texture is too sticky then add some more flour. If it’s on the dry side, add milk (a couple tablespoons at a time).
• Remove the dough from the food processor and form a large ball, place it in a large bowl.
• Let the dough rise in a warm place, covered with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, until the size doubles, about 2 hours.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1 inch thick. Use a gingerbread cookie cutter to cut out the shape of the “guagua”. You can also form the doll shapes by hand. To do so, start by making a ball of dough (3-4oz). Then use your hands to shape the dough in the form of a swaddled baby. Start by turning the ball of dough into an elongated oval shape and then form the head.
• Place the bread figures on baking sheet (lightly greased or with lined with parchment paper). Let them rise until half doubled, about 15-20 minutes.
• In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
• Brush the tops of the bread figures with the whisked egg yolks.
• Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until golden on top.
• Let the bread guaguas cool down completely, to keep the bread soft place them in a basket lined with kitchen towels and keep them covered.
• Decorate (after they have cooled down) using different icing colors and sprinkles
