Roscon de Reyes Recipe
Roscon de Reyes is a kind of sweet bread made on the Reyes Magos (wizard kings) day celebrated on January 6 in Spain. Reyes Magos is a festive day celebrated after the birth of Jesus, in the name of three kings / sorcerers / wise men who came from the east and brought gifts to Jesus. Reyes Magos day is represented by three kings, one representing Asia, one representing Europe and another representing Africa. Three men dressed like sultans represent these kings, and children take photos with them like a Santa Claus. Gifts are given to children on January 6, family dinners are eaten like Christmas, and roscon de reyes is taken to these meals.
Roscon de reyes is decorated with candied fruits in the form of a king's crown. In summary, it can be described as a round, colorfully decorated sweet bread. It can be sprinkled with cream in between or it can be served plain. When the cream is squeezed, chocolates and a black eyed bean are placed in between. Finding chocolate on a slice means good luck, and a black eyed pea means bad luck.
A different fermentation technique is used in making Roscon de reyes. It is similar to the method used in the Panettone recipe. Before preparing the main dough, a small piece of dough is fermented and then added to the main dough. While this pre-dough has two stages in panettone, in roscon de reyes, it is fermented in one stage and differently is kept in warm water so that it is easily understood whether it is fermented or not. When it is first placed in the water, it sinks to the bottom of the water and begins to float on the water as it rises. The dough rises and floats in a short time with the effect of warm water.
Roscon de reyes has two important tricks. The first is the requirement to use high protein / hard flour. Since Roscon has a large dough mass and rises quite a lot, it is necessary to use a dough with elasticity that can take the tension to prevent it from cracking in an ugly way while baking. What can achieve this is the high protein flour and gluten structure that will be obtained with long kneading. Another important trick is that the roscon de reyes is prepared in two forms, one big and one small. The larger the dough mass, the higher the surface tension and the higher the probability of cracking and bursting. To avoid this and to ensure that the inside is cooked well, roscon de reyes is cooked in two pieces.
I made two minor changes to the recipe. Traditionally, orange blossom water (the orange blossom version of rose water) and rum are added. But I don't like the rum flavor, I used vanilla instead. I didn't use orange blossom water either. I find it a waste to just buy one ingredient to use in a recipe. It already contains orange and lemon peel and vanilla, I thought three flavors would be enough. So they were. My husband took it to work twice. They liked it in both times. So there was no shortage of rum and orange blossom water, or orange peel and vanilla made up for them. However, if you want to follow the original recipe, you can use 1 tablespoon of rum instead of vanilla and an extra 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water.
Enjoy ...
Ingredients
For Pre-Dough;
- 1/4 cup warm milk,
- 1 tablespoon of sugar,
- 5 g fresh yeast,
- 1/2 cup high protein flour.
For the main dough;
- Pre-dough,
- 2 eggs (one yolk for topping),
- 1/2 cup warm milk,
- 100 g of butter at room temperature ,
- 1 cup of sugar,
- 15 g fresh yeast,
- The zest of 1/2 orange,
- The zest of 1 lemon,
- Ground vanilla with the tip of the knife,
- 4-4.5 cups of flour,
- A pinch of salt.
For topping;
- Thinly sliced orange,
- Candied fruits,
- Almond flakes,
- 3 teaspoons of powdered sugar + 2 teaspoons of water.
For the Filling Cream;
- 400 ml heavy cream,
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Preparation
- For the pre-dough, mix the milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl,
- Add the flour and knead until you get a firm dough,
- Make a ball of dough,
- Put a few cups of warm water in a bowl and put the dough ball into the water (the ball will be submerged in the water),
- When the dough ball rises and begins to float on the water, start the main dough,
- For this, mix milk, sugar and yeast,
- Add butter, one egg, one egg white, grated orange peel, grated lemon peel, ground vanilla and salt and mix,
- Add the pre-dough and mix,
- Add the flour little by little and knead until you get a soft dough,
- Take the dough on the counter and knead for ten minutes,
- Cover it and let it rest for 45 minutes-1 hour (until it doubles in size),
- Knead the dough again and divide it into two parts at a ratio of 3 / 4-1 / 4,
- Take the large piece and roll it up and make a hole in the middle with your finger and roll it into a thick bagel,
- Cover and rest until it triples in size,
- Prepare and rest the other piece in the same way,
- Add a tablespoon of milk and a teaspoon of powdered sugar to the egg yolk and mix,
- Spread the mixture on the large piece,
- Arrange the orange slices and candied fruits on it,
- Sprinkle with almond flakes,
- Mix the powdered sugar and water,
- Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top,
- Bake in the oven preheated at 180 degrees until the top is well browned,
- Before taking the large one from the oven, decorate the little one and bake it at the same degree,
- After the roscons have cooled, take the heavy cream and powdered sugar in a narrow and deep bowl and whisk until thickened,
- Cut the roscons in half horizontally,
- Squeeze the cream on the lower layers,
- Place the second layers on them.
Enjoy it...