Orange Cardamom Concha Bread (Pan Dulce)

Orange Cardamom Concha Bread (Pan Dulce) ~ Traditional Mexican concha bread flavored with tangy orange, baked flakey and tender with a cardamom sugar topping.If you were stranded on a desert isle, what 5 food/drinks, besides water (that’s a freebie) would you have with you?

My answer is easy, pancakes, meatballs, pork, wine, and coffee.

Of this list, coffee is the only one I can’t go a day without.

When the opportunity to partner with NesCaféLatino was presented to me, I really didn’t need to think twice, hello, coffee! If anyone can sing the praises of coffee, it’s me. But as I read more about the this particular campaign, I had to jump on board. The campaign is called Sobremesa.

My Spanish skills are definitely rusty, but I could translate the compound word to “on table.” Sobre = on and mesa = table. But I had no idea what Sobremesa actually was, so I kept reading. As I read, I got so excited. In Mexico and in several Latino cultures the concept of Sobremesa is lingering together as a family or with friends after a meal, enjoying a cup of coffee and making the whole experience last longer.

My paternal side of the family has done this MY ENTIRE LIFE.  Or something incredibly similar. We didn’t call it Sobremesa, it was simply called ‘coffee.’ Every time we were together as a family, we would have a huge meal, many of those recipes have been shared here on this site, and then the dishes were done. During my younger years, it was my grandma and Mom2, along with us older kids who did the dishes, then when I got older, it was us older kids and my grandpa who did the dishes. He always said it was good for his back to stand and wash, but I think he just like the one on one time he got with his grandkids.

I hate doing dishes, but now, I’d give anything to be at the sink with him washing plates and silverware again. We’d joke. He’d ask about school. We’d discuss politics. I wish I knew then just how precious and cherished those moments would be to me now.Once the dishes were done, the family was called back to the table for coffee. This was different than being called for dessert. For all my ability to write, I am not certain I can adequately describe the difference between dessert and what my family called coffee. Dessert was a production, cake, ice cream, lights on. Coffee was not. It was simply hot coffee, milk for the kids, and Mexican pan dulce (sweet breads) and cookies and only the lights over the sink and stove were on. It was intimate and cozy.

This tradition ended after my grandfather passed on and my grandmother moved in with my dad and Mom2. No more dinners at my grandparents’ home with my uncle and his family. No more meals cooked by my grandmother. No more kitchen conversations with my grandfather over a sink-full of suds. No more coffee.

As the memories flooded back, years and years of conversations, laughter, some tears, and lots and lots of coffee and pan dulce, I knew I had to bring this tradition back. Sadly Elizabeth and I can’t run to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner the way we went to my grandparents’. For us, this tradition will be shared with friends who have become our family.

I turned to a friend and shared my memories of Sobremesa. Then I shared with him my deep and abiding love for concha bread (pan dulce). This recipe is something that I know my grandparents would love and would consider worthy of our family coffee time.

Having made this orange cardamom concha bread (pan dulce), I felt I had no other choice than to invite some friends over, and have our own Sobremesa with NesCafé. It was such a fun experience. We talked about our kids, food, and upcoming travels. It was so relaxed and fun that I must continue with this tradition started by my grandparents. I might not always call it Sobremesa, but I will always have coffee.

To learn more about Sobremesa with NesCaféLatino, check out this video (en español) or on their Facebook Page.

Thank you for sharing!