Three King's Cake (Rosca de Reyes or Roscòn de Reyes)
Three King's Cake (Rosca de Reyes or Roscòn de Reyes)
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| Yield: | 1 loaf, 16 slices |
Ingredients
Dough
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 3 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- 3/4 cup dried mixed fruits or Favorite Fruit Blend
- 1 tablespoon lemon, orange, or lime zest
Garnish
- candied red cherries and/or orange peel
- toasted sliced almonds, pecans, cashews, or walnuts
Directions
1) For the dough: Heat the milk to a simmer in a small saucepan or at medium power in your microwave. Pour the hot milk over the butter, sugar, and salt, and stir occasionally until the butter melts. Cool the mixture to lukewarm.
2) In a mixing bowl combine the milk mixture, eggs, and yeast. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, and mix until a soft, smooth dough forms. You can also use your bread machine, set on the dough cycle, for this step.
3) Place the dough in a greased container, cover it, and set it in a draft-free place to rise until doubled (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours). Or let your bread machine complete the dough cycle.
4) After the first rise, deflate the dough, cover, and let it rest for 10 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 20" x 12" rectangle.
5) For the filling: Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter, leaving a 1/2" strip bare along one of the long edges. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add the nuts, mixed fruits and zest, and stir to coat. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the buttered section of the dough.
6) Assembly: Starting with the garnished long edge, roll the dough up jelly-roll style, working toward the edge with no butter on it. Pinch the seam together to seal it firmly, then bring the ends together to form a ring. To keep the bread round, grease the outside of a small bowl or custard cup and put it on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the ring, seam side down, around the bowl and tuck one end inside the other, pinching it together to seal it.
7) Flatten the ring slightly, and using a pair of scissors, make cuts in the dough at 1 1/2" intervals around the outside edge. Hide a doll or candy inside the bread. You can place strips of candied orange peel in the cuts to create the look in the photo at the top of the recipe. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until nearly doubled (about 30 to 40 minutes).
8) To bake: Once the dough is shaped and is rising for the second time, preheat the oven to 350°F. When the dough is risen, remove the plastic wrap, and brush the top with beaten egg. Place the candied cherries (cut in half) in the spaces between the slits in the dough, and decorate with nuts as desired. Combine the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the top.
9) Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, covering the loaf loosely with foil after the first 15 minutes, as it will brown quickly. Remove the bread from the oven when the inner parts of the slits look cooked and the interior measures 190°F when measured with an instant-read thermometer. Cool the bread on a rack.
Yield: 1 loaf, 16 servings.
Reviews
01/07/2012- I made it yesterday, January 6, 2012 and it turned out great! I followed the original recipe very closely, and used the directions for the icing, too. Inside the bread/cake, I used raisins (I soaked them first to be more plump--about 1 hour) and cut up some dried apricots. I skipped the nuts in the filling because my family has nut allergies, and instead replaced more apricots with the nuts. During the second rise, it did not rise much like someone else said, but that did not make a difference in the end. During the last few minutes, the top of the bread did not look very brown, so I took off the foil and then it looked perfect. I don't know if our oven is off a bit, but it took an extra 20 minutes above the baking time to bake the bread. I am really grateful that the internal temperature was given (190 degrees); it was great to know when it was done. The other year, we made a different Rosca de Reyes recipe, and the middle did not bake and we had to throw it out. Thank you for a good recipe!
Congrats Marie! You did just the right thing to get that bread to brown, as well as replacing ingredients to meet your families taste preferences. Keep up the good (baking) work! Happy Baking! Irene @ KAF
01/10/2011- So I put in the soaked fruit - not sure it tasted much like orange, but what the heck: moister is better, right? I forgot the orange zest until I'd already rolled the thing up, so unrolled it and sprinkled/spread the zest around. I don't recommend doing that! Messy. I used the trick from the blog of putting a 'ring' in the center to shape the dough around. It sort of worked, sort of didn't. It was fine for shaping the dough into a circle, but then the dough rose over and under the ring and kind of bulged all around it, lifting up the ring. I was able to take it out when the dough finished, but the center seemed to collapse a little bit. Doesn't seem to have hurt the dough though. I would have used some kind of metal cup or ramekin, but don't have one. I made and used the candied orange peel, but as I was afraid, some of it browned in the baking and it became quite hard and I didn't think it added anything. I took it off and didn't tell anyone it was supposed to look like a crown, because my roll was thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends and so it rose lopsided, and it just didn't look like in the picture. The slits and cherries had to do for the crown effect. But powdered sugar covers a multitude of defects. The dough rose wonderfully well in my warm kitchen (thanks to lots of beating with the dough hook, I think.) It was silky and tender (the bits that came off when I pulled out the ring were soft). I haven't tasted this bread; it was a gift for other people. They liked the idea of hunting for the almond and seem to have liked the bread. Next time I make it, I will learn from my mistakes (I hope).
- 01/06/2011
- The instructions say "Combine the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the top."
What glaze ingredients? I'm in the middle of making this, and I don't know what to do about some glaze ingredients. I'll go with what the blog says about using an egg wash and powdered sugar.
Can I use fruit I've plumped in Cointreau? How would I do this with a poolish (as mentioned in the comments)? How would orange water be used (as mentioned in the comments)? I'm just forging ahead and I hope things will work out, because here it is Epiphany and I need this cake to be successful.
I'm required to rate the recipe, even though I'm in the middle of it. Since something is missing from the recipe, and I haven't finished making it, I can't give it higher than 3 stars at the moment.
I'm sorry for any confusion with this recipe. I've spoken with the author of the recipe and she will update the recipe as soon as possible. Substitute soaked dried fruit into the recipe 1:1. We have not tried this recipe using a poolish, but feel free to experiment. Create a pre-ferment by combining a precentage of the flour & water together several hours before making the dough. Try adding 1-2 TBS orange water and reduce the liquids accordingly. Remember that you can always call us at 1-800-827-6836 to talk about recipes with a baker. - kelsey@KAF
- 01/04/2011
- I made this three times in the last week for various functions, and all three times it came out well. I was a little worried because it didn't do much in the way of rising on either the first or second rise, but puffed up nicely in the oven and looked beautiful. I baked it on a pizza stone with a greased ramekin in the middle, which worked great. I had used a different recipe last year for King's Cake that turned out very dry, but this was very moist and flavorful. I made it with half all purpose and half bread flour and used toasted chopped almonds for the nuts. I didn't have any KA favorite fruit blend, but made my own from the same dried fruit suggested in the blend. I even made the candied orange peel for the top from KA recipe for that, which also turned out well. Overall a very tasty treat with an impressive presentation that would be great to bring to any brunch, not just for Epiphany.
