Spanish Three Kings Cake
The Three Kings Cake, also known as Roscón de Reyes in Spanish, is a very popular Christmas cake that in Spain is usually served on Three Kings Night, January 5, and Three Kings Day on January 6.
Equipment
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 650 grams strong flour
- 250 ml milk tempered
- 125 grams sugar
- 120 grams butter melted
- 30 grams fresh yeast
- 2 tablespoons eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 10 grams salt
- 2 ½ orange blossom water
- 1 grated lemon peel
- 1 grated orange peel
- 1 egg
- 20 grams sugar
- Candied fruits (optional)
Instructions
- First, mix a few millilitres of warm milk with 3 tablespoons of flour and the fresh yeast. Mix everything together to obtain a homogeneous dough and leave it to rise for 15 minutes in a warm place to ferment.
- In the meantime, start preparing the main dough. Start by putting the flour in a bowl and make a circle in the centre. In this hole, add the ingredients: sugar, lemon and orange zest, milk, 2 eggs, orange blossom water, melted butter and a pinch of salt, and start stirring.
- When the first dough has risen, add it to the main dough and continue mixing until a homogeneous dough is obtained. Knead with your hands on a previously floured flat surface, or with the help of an electric mixer.
- Then shape the dough into a ball and keep it for at least a couple of hours in a warm place. You can also leave it to rest overnight. During this time, the bowl should be covered to avoid draughts and help the fermentation process. The container should also be more than twice the size of the dough, as the dough will swell and grow to more than twice its size.
- After this wait, take the dough out of the bowl and knead it a second time, and this time you are going to start shaping it into a doughnut shape. Therefore, you will have to make a hole in the dough with your fingers. As the hole will become smaller during baking, it is best to place a circular bowl in the centre of the dough to keep the shape.
- The dough should now be left to rest in a warm place for at least another hour.
- After this hour, we begin to decorate the cake. First, we beat the egg and paint the surface. The original recipe would involve adding candied fruit and/or sprinkling some sugar mixed with a little water, so that when it dries it looks like fat pieces of sugar.But you could also add nuts, such as slivered almonds, or sprinkle with icing sugar.
- Finally, bake the uncooked roscón in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes.
- When it has browned, remove the cake and leave to cool slightly.
- If you like it with cream, truffle or another ingredient, this would be the moment to cut the roscón in half, as if it were a sandwich, and add the filling of your choice.
Notes
- BUDGET: medium
- DIFFICULTY: medium