I am sharing with you today one of my favourite breads that is an essential part of one of my favourite traditions. The Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th, and with it comes this bread. There is a lot of symbolism associated with it, but without making this too long, I will abbreviate its meaning.
As the story goes, the Wise Men met baby Jesus on January 6th, so we celebrate the fact by sharing this bread. The round shape symbolizes God’s infinite love - with no beginning and no end. The dried fruit decorating the bread, symbolizes the jewels on the crowns of the Wise men (we call them the three kings), and the little doll hidden inside it, symbolizes the baby Jesus hiding from King Herod.
In Mexico, the tradition is that each guest chooses their piece of the bread and whomever gets the figurine, must host a tamal party for the Day of the Virgin of La Candelaria, on February 2nd. All around, it is a great food event!!
This recipe is not mine. It is Maestro Yuri de Gortari’s recipe and I share it with a lot of respect. Maestro Yuri passed away recently, and it is a great loss for us Mexicans. He was a great advocate for respecting our traditions and he was a generous teacher that loved sharing his knowledge with everyone. I always meant to go to Mexico City to take one of his courses, but I never got around to it. Though I know his school is still going, for me it would not be the same without him. Still, every time I make this recipe I think of him.
I have not altered the recipe at all, except for adapting it to making the bread in a mixer, not completely by hand as the Maestro liked to make it. I have also increased the amount of orange blossom water, because I really like it. The recipe makes one huge rosca, but I like to make 3 or 4 smaller ones instead, and share them with friends. It is a lot of fun to make, and if you want to see a step by step, you can find the process in my Instagram highlights.
Even though this recipe comes to you after January 6, you can be ready for next year! Traditionally we dunk the slices in a steaming mug of Mexican hot chocolate. Enjoy!
Rosca de Reyes
Three Kings Bread
Sponge:
15g dry yeast
½ tsp sugar
2 Tbsp flour (24g)
½ cup warm milk (75g)
Dough:
500g all purpose flour
125g granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs (160g)
Zest of one large navel orange (6g)
1 tsp orange blossom water (5g)
7 egg yolks (120g)
Plastic dolls
Icing:
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g icing sugar
100g all purpose flour
Decoration: your choice of:
Quince paste strips
Candied red and green cherries
Crystalized figs
Chopped nuts
Granulated sugar
Nutella
1 egg, for egg wash
For the Sponge: In small bowl, whisk yeast, sugar and flour. Add warm milk and mix until completely smooth. Set aside to proof, 10-15 minutes.
Start the Dough while sponge proofs: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, butter, 3 eggs, orange zest, and orange blossom water. Using the dough hook, start mixing until the mixture comes together.
Add egg yolks and sponge and continue to mix until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, 10-15 minutes.
Grease a large bowl and place dough in bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap and let proof until triple in size - depending on the temperature of your kitchen it may take over 2 hours.
Make the icing while dough rests: In medium bowl, combine butter, icing sugar and flour. Work with your hands until the mixture comes together. Leave in a cool place until you need it (does not need to be refrigerated).
When dough is ready, punch it down and portion it into one, two, three or 4 pieces, as you wish. If you use the whole dough for one rosca, it will be very large. I like to make 4 smaller ones, they turn out as you see in the photo - enough for 4-6 people.
Using your hands, shape the dough into a large rope, then join ends by pinching dough together. Make a small incision underneath to insert the doll, pinching dough closed under doll. If you make one large rosca, insert two dolls. Place dough on parchment-covered sheet pans, if making 4 roscas, two will fit in a half sheet pan. I like to place something in the middle so the centres don’t close as they bake, you can use a small bowl or ramekin for this purpose. Let dough rise for 30 minutes.
When dough is ready, start decorating. Roll out icing into 1/8” thickness, cut into strips and place over roscas. Whatever space is left exposed without icing, brush with egg wash and sprinkle nuts or place strips of quince paste or dried fruits to decorate.
Bake at 345°F for 27-29 minutes, until golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. If you have a thermometer, internal temperature should be around 210°F.
Remove roscas from oven and cool completely on racks before slicing. If you want, you can drizzle with Nutella before serving.
Serve with hot chocolate and enjoy!!