Three Kings Day celebrates the arrival of (duh) the Three Kings (Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar) at the Nativity.
Children in Latin countries set out their shoes the night before to be filled with gifts. In the morning, families eat Rosca de Reyes, a sweet bread formed in a ring shape with a baby Jesus doll hidden inside, symbolizing the child's flight to Egypt to escape King Herod. The person who finds the doll becomes "king" for a day. We'll leave you to sort out the sibling rivalry issues that will no doubt ensue!
If you are worried about the choking hazard posed by a tiny plastic doll in your breakfast, try inserting a dried apricot instead.
I wanted to create an easy, no-knead, yeasted bread that would have the same soft, moist texture as a holiday bread I once tried in Venice. This recipe is inspired by the methods described by Mark Bittman. Sugars in the buttermilk help feed the yeast to make the dough rise slowly, thereby developing a more complex flavor.
For the bread:
Ingredients
- 4 1/3 cup flour
- 1/4 ounce instant yeast (one package)
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup flour
- 4 eggs
- 3 ounces butter
- 1 teaspoon water
- Combine the flour, yeast, buttermilk, and water, mix well by hand, and form into a ball. Let it rise at room temperature overnight.
- The following morning, punch down the dough. Mix the remaining ingredients together and then fold into dough, mixing as thoroughly as possible. Dough will now be very wet and sticky.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter a nine-inch springform pan and the exterior of a ramekin. Place the ramekin in the center of the springform pan and pour in dough, pushing it evenly to all sides. Once more, let the dough rest and rise a little for about 30 minutes.
- Bake until the top is golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let the bread cool completely. Then cut a small opening into the bottom and insert a baby Jesus figurine or dried apricot.
- Decorate with glaze (see below) and dried fruits. Or decorate your "king cake" Mardi Gras style by tinting the glaze with green, yellow, and purple food coloring and adding sprinkles.
For the glaze:
Ingredients
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange-blossom water
Whisk together sugar and orange-blossom water well and drizzle the mixture over the bread.
Where to find that little baby Jesus doll:
Accent Annex
MardiGrasDay.com
