Every year I get on the campaign trail, no I am not running for public office…yet! 
Instead I try to get my family WHOLE family to downgrade their Christmas celebrations in favor of the fun, traditional and insanely more affordable, Día De Los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day. And every year I get SOME family members to jump on the bandwagon.
Three Kings Day, or Epiphany, is celebrated 12 days after Christmas (the end of the 12 days of Christmas), this year it is on January 6th and marks when the three wise men, Gaspar, Balthasar & Melchior (great Biblical trivia to know) came on camels to bring baby Jesus gifts of frankincense, myrrh and gold. Three Kings Day is celebrated all over the world, but in Latin America it was a bigger holiday than even Christmas! Unfortunately because of all the hype around Christmas more and more families are adopting December 25th and turning their backs on the wise men. I say, lets bring back the Kings!
For one reason, the way that the holiday is celebrated is so traditional, quaint and charming and all about QUALITY time with one another versus QUANTITY. Children leave food (grass and corn) and water for the camels, who are hungry and thirsty from their long trip across the desert, and in exchange the kings leave them gifts, hopefully not just frankincense, myrrh. But in this day and age, one of the best reasons to celebrate Three Kings Day is the tremendous sales there are after Christmas that Three Kings Day celebrants get to take advantage of, and I am all about the cheap and cheerful holiday!
After a family dinner, which we will be having this evening, we traditionally would make a sweet bread ring, called Rosca De Reyes (or Roscon De Reyes) and baked INSIDE of the bread is a little figurine of the baby Jesus.
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Then the ring is cut and everyone gets a slice. Getting the baby Jesus figurine is bitter sweet, because not only do you receive blessings, but it also means that you are responsible for hosting a shin dig on February 2nd for Candlemas Day (Día de la Candelaria)! Who doesn’t love a party?
Here is a wonderful recipe for Rosca De Reyes, serve it with coffee or hot chocolate and leftover slices are delicious toasted and served for breakfast!
Rosca De Reyes
Serves 12 to 16
Ingredients
- 1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 6 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons), melted and cooled, divided
- Pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 3/4 cups toasted sliced almonds, divided
- 5 1/2 to 6 cups all purpose flour
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- Baby Jesus figurine
Method
In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk and set aside for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, eggs, 8 tablespoons of the butter, salt and vanilla and almond extracts until frothy. Add yeast mixture and whisk until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/4 cups of the toasted almonds. Begin to work flour into egg mixture 1 cup at a time, until a wet dough is formed (amount of flour used will depend on size of eggs and humidity of air). Dough should be slightly sticky, yet firm enough to handle. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for 5 minutes. Brush a large clean bowl with 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter, then place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise until doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, peel long strips of zest from lemon and orange. Take care to remove as little of the white pith as possible. Cut zest into thin strips, then transfer to a small saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Strain out zest and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Set zest and citrus syrup aside.
When dough has risen, uncover bowl, punch down dough and let rest for 5 minutes. Use 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to grease a large piece of parchment paper and your hands. Turn dough out onto buttered parchment, then use your hands to divide dough into two equal portions and shape into two 18-inch logs. Twist logs over one another to create a rope, then circle ends together to create a ring and pinch together. Tuck coin or figurine into the ring, if using. Brush lightly with 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F and move rack to center of oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and brush with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Set aside on rack to cool completely, then brush with reserved citrus syrup and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup toasted almonds and reserved citrus zest.
Happy Three Kings Day Everyone!
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Comments
Thank you for this post. I totally agree and we are going to be bringing back our celebration of Epiphany this year, with exchanging a small gift and baking the bread. Do you know where I can find a plastic Jesus figurine? Thank you and Happy Epiphany and thank you for the recipe!
Hi Michelle! So glad that you agree! I got my baby Jesus, believe it or not at Party City. They have a ton of plastic babies in the Baby Shower party planning department. Happy Three Kings Day!