Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread!
King Cake: Rosca de Reyes
(Recipe)
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
Regular Lavender and Lovage readers may remember that I entered a baking contest recently here:,sadly I didn’t win, you can’t win them all, but I did come in as a credible second and that’s with no vote begging too, well not much, just a tweet or two when my post went live! A HUGE thanks to all of you who DID vote for me and for all of your wonderful comments on the contest post here:Revel with a Home-Made La Rosca de Reyes. I loved thechallengeofdevisinga recipe as well as baking myRosca de Reyes, and eating it of course! However, on the eve of Twelfth Night andEpiphany, Ihavedecidedto share the recipe with you all, here on my blog, so you can print it if you wish to make my authentic Spanish King Cake akaLa Rosca de Reyes aka Three Kings Cake.
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
Twelfth Night is the festival marking the coming of the Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.In mediaeval and Tudor England, the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve — now more commonly known as Halloween. The Lord of Misrule symbolises the world turning upside down. On this day the King and all those who were high would become the peasants and vice versa. At the beginning of the Twelfth Night festival, a cake that contained a bean was eaten, and the person who found the bean would rule the feast. Midnightsignalledthe end of his rule and the world would return to normal. The common theme was that the normal order of things was reversed. This Lord of Misrule tradition dates back to pre-Christian European festivals such as the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia.
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
Food and drink are thecentreof the celebrations in modern times, and all of the most traditional ones go back many centuries.Around the world, special pastries and breads, such asRoscón de reyes,La Galette des Rois and King cake are baked on Twelfth Night, and are eaten for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations. In English and French customs, a Twelfth Night cake was baked to contain a bean and a pea, so that those who received the slices containing them should be designated king and queen of the night’s festivities.In parts of Kent, there is a tradition that an edible decoration would be the last part of Christmas to be removed in the Twelfth Night and shared amongst the family.
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
Twelfth Night is also a night that has inspired literature and plays;Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, or What You Will was written to be performed as a Twelfth Night entertainment with the earliest known performance taking place at Middle Temple Hall, one of the Inns of Court, on Candlemas night, 2 February 1602. The play has many elements that are reversed, in the tradition of Twelfth Night, such as a woman Viola dressing as a man, and a servant Malvolio imagining that he can become a nobleman. And,Robert Herrick’s poem Twelfe-Night, or King and Queene (published 1648) describes the election of king and queen by bean and pea in a plum cake, and the homage done to them by the draining of wassail bowls of “lamb’s-wool”, anEnglishdrink mainlyattributedto Yorkshire made of apples with sugar, nutmeg, ginger and ale.
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
My delicious recipe is copied below for you; please do try this celebratory Spanish bread. The most time-consuming part of the whole baking process is the initial kneading, which I confess to doing in my Kenwood mixer this time! You then just pop the dough into a big bowl, cover it and leave it overnight to prove and double in volume, before shaping and decorating, (great fun!) and proving once more before baking. This recipe will feed 12 to 16 people of varying ages and appetites. Don’t forget to add your little trinket or a dried bean is also traditional.Have a wonderful Twelfth Night, and don’t forget to celebrate Three King’s Day this festive period, it’s fun and extends the Christmas holidays just that little bit further! Karen
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
King Cake: La Rosca de Reyes
Print recipe
| Serves | 12 to 16 |
| Prep time | 24 hours |
| Cook time | 40 minutes |
| Total time | 24 hours, 40 minutes |
| Allergy | Egg, Milk, Wheat |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Side Dish, Snack |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Gourmet, Serve Cold, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Casual Party, Christmas, Formal Party |
| Region | Spanish |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
La Rosca de Reyes or Roscón de Reyes is a Spanish and Latin American king’s cake, similar to French brioche or Italian Panettone, traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany on the 6thJanuary.This recipe will feed 12 to 16 people of varying ages and appetites. Don’t forget to add your little trinket or a dried bean is also traditional.
Ingredients
Bread/Cake
- 450g strong white bread flour
- 75g caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 75g softened butter
- 2 large free-range eggs, or 3 medium free-range eggs
- 1 x 7g easy blend yeast sachets
- 150ml milk, tepid
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Zest of 2 clementines or 2 small oranges
Decoration and Topping
- 75g softened butter
- 75g icing sugar
- 100g plain white flour
- 1 to 2 tablespoons orange flower/blossom water to mix
- 100g candied fruits and nuts, such as cherries, peel and whole almonds
Note
La Rosca de Reyes or Roscón de Reyes is a Spanish and Latin American king’s cake, similar to French brioche or Italian Panettone, traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany on the 6thJanuary.This recipe will feed 12 to 16 people of varying ages and appetites. Don’t forget to add your little trinket or a dried bean is also traditional.
Directions
| Step 1 | Place the dried ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached and then add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes. Then increase the speed to medium and mix for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the dough is shiny and very elastic. Alternatively, knead by hand for about 10 to 15 minutes. |
| Step 2 | Allow to prove overnight in a cool but not cold place, covered with oiled Clingfilm and a clean tea towel. |
| Step 3 | Take the dough out of the bowl and cut into 3 even sized pieces; roll them into balls and then roll them into long sausage shapes, this can be done by throwing the dough on to the table! (Make sure you are working on a floured surface) Insert the trinket or dried bean into one sausage, and then lay them on the floured board and plait them, before making a ring and joining them together with a little flour and water. |
| Step 4 | Place the plaited ring on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, and then make the topping. |
| Step 5 | Mix the butter, icing sugar and flour together and then add the orange flower water to make a stiff paste. Decorate the Rosca de Reyes by spooning the topping on in segments around the ring and placing candied fruit and nuts in-between. Cover and allow to prove for 1 hour, or until the ring has nearly doubled in size. |
| Step 6 | Bake in a pre-heated oven 160 C Fan/180C/Gas Mark 4 for 30 to 40 minutes; the cake is ready when it is golden brown, well risen, and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Allow to cool on a wire rack before eating at room temperate and warning your guests about the trinket or dried bean! |
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
La Rosca de Reyes or Roscón de Reyes is a Spanish and Latin American king’s cake, similar to French brioche or Italian Panettone, traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany on the 6th January. The date is also known as Three King’s Day, which happens twelve days after Christmas and marks the end of the Christmas period in Spain. In Spain and Mexico, Three King’s Day is just as important as Christmas day itself, especially for the children, as this is when they receive their presents! For me, it symbolises a gift in a cake, as it is such a pretty dessert and I find that both commercial and home-made versions make wonderful and thoughtful gifts.
Twelfth Night, Epiphany and Delicious Bread! King Cake: Rosca de Reyes (Recipe)
Have a GREAT Twelfth Night!
Do you take your decorations down on the 5th or the 6th of January?
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