3 Kings Day Recipe - Tortell de Reis or Kings Cake

As with all proper holidays, January 6th has its own special treat: the Tortell de Reis is the traditional dessert cake served after dinner. It comes complete with a plastic figurine of a king baked into the crust somewhere, and tradition dictates that whoever gets the piece of cake with the king gets to be the "king" for the day. Of course, the other side of that is the bean, which, just like the king, has been baked into the cake. The "winner" of the bean is the one who gets to pay for the cake and do the washing up. At least everyone gets to eat a delicious dessert, though!

Here's our recipe for making your own Tortell de Reis for this Thursday's celebration:

Ingredients:
1st dough mix
3/4 cup milk
1/8 cup Bread yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups wheat flour

2nd dough mix
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs

1 oz baking yeast

2 1/2 cups flour

Optional Marzipan Filling
1 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon water
a pinch of salt
1 cup powdered sugar, mixed with grated skin of half an orange and half a lemon

Decoration:
1 egg (beaten)
Sugar (moistened with a drop of water)
Candied fruits

Preparation:
1st dough:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with lukewarm water. Form mixture into ball. Cover and let rise for 2-3 hours.

2nd dough mix:
Mix yeast with lukewarm milk
Add flour in a bowl.
Add eggs, butter, salt, water and powdered sugar.
Add the yeast/milk mix and the 1st dough ball.
Mix until uniform.
Put the dough on a greased surface and spread.
Let sit for approximately 4 hours, until it doubles in volume.
Divide the dough in 2 parts.
Using a ring shaped cake mold form the cake and let sit 2 more hours.
Brush with beaten egg and garnish with sugar and candied fruits.
Heat the oven to 400 and cook for 10 minutes, then bring temperature to 350 , cover with aluminum foil and cook 10 minutes. Check to see if it is done with a toothpick.