Roscón de Reyes. Christmas recipe

Among the Christmas recipes , I don’t think there is one so traditional in my house as the  Roscón de Reyes ( Rosca or rosco de Reyes ).

I’ve been perfecting it since mid-November, so imagine how my house smells every weekend.

If you follow me on Facebook you will   have read my experiences every Sunday. As I have been substituting ingredients and even softening the dough some more time to see how the crumb of the roscón was.

I have even prepared this year a special of tips from Rosario with all your doubts and questions, gathering all this information so that you get a perfect roscón and the first time.

The final recipe is the one that I leave you today, without frosty fruit because at home it does not like and in the end it always goes to the garbage.

I also do not like to fill it with cream or chocolate cream … For me it is a luxury sponge cake to dip in chocolate or in a good coffee with milk in the morning.

I look for it to be soaked in milk at breakfast time. So if I fill it it seems to me that I take away the grace of this Christmas bun. But this goes for tastes, you can prepare whipped cream at home , even chocolate or nougat cream . What you like best to accompany your chocolate to the cup .

On January 6, the feast of the Three Kings, a roscón should not be missing in any home or the Kings could get angry and you know what that means … coal!

And remember that not even a crumb is thrown from a homemade donut. If you have too much (I doubt it) you can prepare our famous roscón pudding , a delight.

Preparation of the Ferment or Biga

The first thing we have to keep in mind when making a Roscón de Reyes is that it is a recipe that takes time. Patience is important for you to get yummy.

1. There are many roscón de reyes recipes and from experience the best is with a quick preference, also called quick sourdough (although it is not sourdough at all).
2. It is not the normal sourdough because we are going to introduce an accelerant. It is pressed yeast from the bakery, but if you have time you can prepare the sourdough at home.
3. I buy the pressed yeast from the bakery at the supermarket. In almost all they have the Levital brand at € 0.39, it is fresh and you must have it in the fridge between 0º and 10º.
4. You have to use about 25 g for every 500 g of strength flour. In this case I have raised the measurement to 30 g by 500 g to make it fluffier.
5. We put in a small bowl warm or warm milk. We dilute the pressed baker’s yeast in it with the teaspoon of sugar.
6. In another bowl we pour the flour of force . We make a hole in the center and add the milk with the leaven yeast.
7. Mix well with a spoon or fork and then continue mixing with your hands.
8. We make a ball as I show you in the photos. We slice with a sharp knife making a cross on top as if it were a bread oven. With the cross we get the dough to break and rise earlier.
9. We look for a large bowl and fill it with warm water.
10. We submerge the sourdough ball that will fall to the bottom. When about 10 minutes pass, the dough should rise and double its size (helped by warm water).
11. When it is floating it can already be used to incorporate into the mass that I explain below.
12. We remove it from the bowl and reserve in a bowl to add it to the dough of the roscón.

Preparation of the Roscón de Reyes dough. Previous kneading

1. To prepare the base mass we put in a large bowl or casserole, the rest of force flour previously sifted (to avoid that it carries impurities).
2. We leave about 4 tablespoons of flour separate to fatten the dough.
3. We wash a lemon and an orange well (or blanch in very hot water). We dry and grate the two without it having anything white, if not bitter. We reserve on a plate to add to the eggs.
4. Mix the eggs with the sugar in another bowl. The zest of the lemon and orange, the tablespoon of vanilla essence, the salt and the tablespoon of rum.
5. We beat vigorously until the eggs are whitened and everything is fully integrated. I do it with the electric mixer, in less than a minute you have everything ready.
6. We put the remaining warm milk in a small bowl. We dilute in it the rest of the pressed baker’s yeast (25 g). In the center of the flour we make a hole with a spoon.
7. We pour the previous mixture with the eggs and the warm milk with the yeast.
8. Beat with a wooden spoon from the center outwards and gradually mix with the flour.
9. Add the butter at room temperature, in ointment, the orange blossom essence and the sourdough (preferment) that we have reserved. We continue stirring what begins to be the dough for about 5 minutes.

Kneading of the Roscón de Reyes dough

1. For now it will be a sticky but firm mix. We prepare the area where we are going to knead, for example the kitchen counter is perfect.
2. Fill the area of ​​the countertop with flour or a little oil (it depends on the practice you have when kneading, if it is the first time with oil). We take the dough out of the bowl and start working the dough with our hands. We begin to knead with oiled hands if it is your first time (this will be much easier).
3. Little by little we can manipulate the dough more quickly, it will remain elastic and homogeneous. The kneading times vary greatly depending on the skill you have in this type of dough, but it should not take more than 45 minutes for the entire process that I have indicated.
4. A good trick (if you have time) is to let the dough rest every 10 minutes of kneading, so it will be easier to manipulate. You just have to leave the dough to rest for 15 minutes (so you rest too) and knead again. Always until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

Rest of the Roscón de Reyes mass

1. We are turning the dough into a ball. We take the previous bowl and flour it. We introduce the dumpling into it.
2. We cover the bowl with a cotton cloth for about 3 hours. The colder the dough will cost to grow and the more spongy the donut will become.
3. I usually leave it in the bowl next to the radiator but on another occasion I prepared it at night and left it in the fridge for 12 hours. The next morning it was perfect.
4. You can do it in 2 ways although I recommend the 3-4 hours. At the end of that time the dough will have doubled in size and we can start preparing the roscones de Reyes.
5. Once that time has passed and the mass has doubled in volume. We divide it into two and shape it into a ball. Let the balls rest for another five minutes.

Final preparation of the Roscón. Decoration and Previous oven

1. We are going to give shape to the roscón introducing the fingers in the center and we are enlarging the hole until it acquires the dimension that we want.
2. You can put a previously oiled glass in the middle so that the dough does not close and then you remove it when it goes to the oven.
3. As you can see in the photos, two medium donuts come out. Do not worry if it seems that they are thin since they have to double their size.
4. Now is when you can strain the surprise. The tradition sends a bean or a coin but lately there are porcelain or glass figurines. That is up to everyone, but do not forget to wrap it in plastic wrap so that it does not fill with dough.
5. Once given the shape and entered the detail, we place on a baking tray in which we will have put vegetable paper or waxed paper. We cover it with the cotton cloth so that it does not dry out as it grows.
6. Let it rest for 2 hours until the donuts double in size.
7. We beat the eggs and add a few drops of milk, this trick will prevent the egg from burning while it is baking and it will be super nice.
8. We paint with the mixture of beaten egg and milk. Always very gently with a silicone brush as we do not want to puncture the donut.
9. We prepare the moistened sugar. We put the granulated sugar in a bowl and add droplets of water.
10. Mix with your fingers and when it is well matted, spread on the donuts to taste.
11. At the same time, toast the sliced ​​almonds or crocanti in a frying pan. We can even add other nuts that we have on hand, walnuts are also luxurious.

Baking of the roscón de Reyes and final presentation

1. We preheat the oven to 200 °, temperature up and down.
2. We introduce first a donut and then the other. The baking time is 18 to 20 minutes at 180º C but it depends on the oven.
3. We lower the temperature to 170 ° C the last 10 minutes of cooking. If we see that it toasts too much, we put a little aluminum foil on top until it finishes baking.
4. We remove from the oven and leave one to cool while we bake the second.
5. You can not imagine how they smell, just for the aroma you have to prepare them at home even once.
6. Let cool and we can now present sliced ​​with a café con leche or with the same in the night or on Three Kings Day. A large bowl of hot chocolate.
7. Remember that whoever finds the detail must pass a test that the other guests put on it. If you buy it, tradition will pay the Roscón …

Remember that after this recipe you must stop by:

All the advice and recommendations for a delicious Roscón de Reyes

• There all possible doubts will be removed. It is a compilation of all your questions from all these years about this dessert, a summary of more than 500 emails of questions about this recipe.
• Still, if after reading this recipe and the advice post you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
• Remember that it is important that you do tests before the day of Kings, so it will be perfect for you.