This pan de muerto is a special kind of bread served on November 2 in Mexico during the Da de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. The bread can also be shaped into various forms, such as animals and angels.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 20 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons very finely minced shallots
- 4 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Gather ingredients.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Place wine, lemon juice, cream, and shallots in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until liquid is reduced by about 75%, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to the lowest setting and whisk in 2 cubes butter. Keep butter moving until it completely melts. Add a few more cubes, whisking continuously so butter emulsifies into wine-lemon juice mixture.
- Continue to add remaining butter, a few cubes at a time, until sauce has a thick, luxurious texture, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from heat. Season with cayenne pepper and salt.
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- If you’re making the sauce ahead of time, it must be kept warm. If it cools and you try to reheat it, the emulsification of the sauce will break.
- Depending on your preferences, you can substitute white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, herb-infused white vinegar, etc., for lemon juice.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 255 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 70 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 47 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Exactly what I was looking for! Easy to make and a canvas for so many things!
I doubled the recipe based on reviews. I served over grilled chicken and whole wheat spaghetti. I used half lemon juice and half white wine vinegar. I used Cajun seasoning instead of cayenne because that’s what I had. I started the sauce to soon compared to the chicken. I cooked it a long time. It turned into a browned butter sauce. It was tasty dipping my finger into the pan to test, but definitely cooked it too long. I’ll try again with better timing.
Served over lobster tail and asparagus, and it tasted perfect!
Awesome. Served over scallops for Thanksgiving appetizer. Wife was thrilled and that is always good.
Exactly what I was seeking! Chef John popped up in my search, GO. I doubled the recipe, cos we is saucy folk. Served pan seared diver scallops over cous cous, I knew we would love this with the rich scallops. Since we are garlic lovers, 2 generous fresh garlic cloves added with the shallots & capers. I also appreciate a judicious touch of velvety heavy cream to many sauces. I dubbed it Heart Stopper Beurre Blanc
Excellent and easy to follow. Thank you.
Love this recipe. So good on fish and veggies
Delicious! Served it over chicken cordon bleu medallions!
Worked great. I wish it had been a little thicker, but I probably rushed it. I’ll definitely try again, because it was delicious!!
Rich and fantastic. The perfect compliment to a gourmet meal. Probably one of the richest and best balanced beurre blancs I have tasted.
I added 1/4 tsp of fresh dill to the sauce. I served it over Salmon that I seasoned with lemon pepper and a small amount of panko crumbs. I drizzled the sauce over the salmon when done and garnished it with fresh chopped parsley. Yum Yum Yum.
Excellent…one tip; if the sauce does break, add 1 oz. of ICE water and whisk, the sauce will recombine BUT, this trick will only work ONCE. If it breaks a second time and as my grandmother would say, “you’re SOL”…
As a professional Chef who was looking for a Buerre Blanc recipe so I didn’t have to type from memory, this is EXACTLY how I’ve made this sauce for years. For commercial service the heavy cream is a must. If you don’t use it the sauce will very likely break (separate) in short order. As for the cream making the sauce too rich? Since it’s 90% butter, not sure it could be richer! I’m teaching an apprentice this sauce in the morning. Thank you Chef John. It’s perfect!
I don’t think I reduced mine enough because I was using a smaller pan. Tastes great though. We put it over noodles and chicken. I will try this again and do it right that time.
This is an outstanding sauce. The cupboard had no shallots so I used garlic. Asparagus season is here and this is a perfect pairing
Made this according to the recipe and it really is delicious. Like another reviewer, we had trouble getting it to reduce but it really didn’t matter as it still was great. Be ready that it is quite lemony so if you prefer less lemon, you could cut that down. I’ll make it again and maybe add some capers.
So help me out here…I made it and it was beautiful and perfect. I made it slightly before my halibut was done and kept it warm to serve when the fish was done. Unfortunately something g went terribly wrong. All of a sudden it completely de-emulsified (if that’s even a word). I was so excited because it was perfect and then it fell apart!
This was a hit! Added the sauce to grilled salmon served with rice pilaf and asparagus. It added so much flavor to the salmon. The recipe was perfect as is. Very creamy and “critusy”. Looking forward to more recipes, Chef John!!
The addition of cream helps stabilize the sauce, but it also makes this extremely rich. That might be desirable for a special occasion serving something indulgent but not too fatty itself (lobster or tuna maybe). However, for most purposes I’d prefer a classic beurre blanc without the cream. It was good but slightly too much for weeknight salmon and green beans, hah. Also, choose your wine wisely. Be sure to use something very dry. I used some leftover pinot grigio and the finished sauce was a bit too sweet.
I add about 3T+ (we like spicy) of wasabi and serve it over furikake crusted fish (opah, Mahi mahi, or ahi) with rice and a quick pickle. Absolutely delicious! Thanks Chef John, we use many of your recipes as inspiration.
LOVED this sauce and so easy to make!! So much versatility to it as well. I added capers and next time will add sauteed mushrooms.