Pan de muerto (Day of the Dead sweet mexican bread)

From pretty much everywhere, lots of hit and miss before ending with this ;-)

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons orange zest

1/4 teaspoon anise extract

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).

In a large bowl combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, salt, anise extract and 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.

Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. 

Punch the dough, place it onto a baking sheet, shape it with a knob on top and bones/stripes from top to bottom, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool.

Cover with granulated sugar