Roscón de Reyes (Kings' wreath)

A sweet bread wreath, filled with spaghetti squash preserve and topped with candied fruit. Traditional in Spain on the 6th January.


Hola!

Today I bring you a Spanish traditional sweet bread that we eat on the 5th and 6th of January. We call it Roscón de Reyes, and I translated it as king’s wreath, since it sounds more accurate to me than “king cake”, as it is also known. It is a sweet-leavened bread, filled with either crème patisserie, whipped cream, chocolate whipped cream, or in my version, spaghetti squash preserve, and topped with candied fruit.

In Spain and other countries, the Three Wise Men bring presents to the little ones (and the not so little) on the Twelfth Day of Christmas, which is the 6th of January, and we eat roscón with our beloved ones. In the filling there are hidden a token (a little king figurine) and a hard fava bean: whoever finds the king gets to wear a paper crown and will be king for the day, and the rest shall obey their orders (this is mostly for children); and whoever finds the fava bean must pay for the cake! Although that never happens.


PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

I’ve been making this for several years throughout my transition from omnivore to herbivore, and every year I update it with improvements. The original recipe is an enriched dough, with eggs and milk, so this was an easy vegan swap. A yeasted dough relies on the yeast to rise, so the replacement of ingredients didn’t affect the quality of the bake at all. In fact, it feels quite light to eat (without the filling).

Nowadays, I normally make vegan whipped cream, but my mum’s favourite filling has always been spaghetti squash preserve (cabello de ángel), and she had sent me a couple of cans from Spain so i used it for the photos.



ROSCÓN DE REYES (KINGS' WREATH)

Serves: 12 people
Prep: 30 minutes (+ proofing times)
Bake: 23 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Mother dough
1/2 cup water
6g fresh yeast (or 2g dried yeast)
1 tsp. brown sugar
100g bread strong flour (3/4 cup)

Dough
1/2 cup sweetened soya milk
6g fresh yeast (or 2g dried yeast)
1 orange, zest
5 tbsp. sunflower oil
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. orange blossom water
A pinch of salt
3 tbsp. chickpea flour
200g bread strong flour (1 + 1/2 cups)
50g wholemeal flour
Sunflower oil, to prevent the dough from sticking

Decorating
Glaze: 1 tbsp. soy milk + 1 tbsp. maple syrup
Candied fruit or flaked almonds
Moistened sugar: 2 tbsp. caster sugar + 1/2 tsp. orange blossom water

Filling
Choose between:
Spaghetti squash preserve (cabello de ángel), OR
Vegan whipped cream (250ml vegan whipping cream + 2-3 tbsp. sieved icing sugar), OR
Vegan chocolate whipped cream 250ml vegan whipping cream + 3 tbsp. cocoa powder + 3 tbsp. sieved icing sugar).


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. To make the mother dough, put the water in the microwave for 30 seconds, add the yeast and sugar and stir until dissolved. Add in the flour and mix well to combine. Cover and keep in the fridge overnight. In the morning, take the mother dough out of the fridge and leave it at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Put the soya milk in the microwave for 30 seconds, add the yeast and stir until dissolved.
  3. In a big bowl, add in the orange zest, sunflower oil and sugar and whisk to combine. Add the orange blossom water, salt, chickpea flour and the mother dough. Mix well and then add the flour in batches until the dough is formed.
  4. Knead the dough until elastic and shiny (about 10 minutes) or in a stand mixer at medium speed until it starts detaching from the bowl. Make a ball and put it into an oiled bowl. Cover and let it rest at ambient until it doubles its size (1-2h).
  5. Degas and punch the dough, then make a ball. Put your thumb in the middle of the ball and make a hole. Keep making the hole bigger by grabbing it like a handle and use its own weight to keep making a bigger ring, then put it on another lined tray. The hole must be at least 5 inches long or it will close when baking. Cover the dough with a microwave food cover and proof until it doubles its size (1-2h).
  6. Mix the glaze ingredients and carefully brush the top (keep the glaze for later) to not press the air out. Put some slices of candied fruit or flaked almonds. Bake the roscón in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. Get the roscón out, brush the remaining glazing, even over the fruit, sprinkle the moistened sugar on top, and bake for another 5 minutes or until it gets golden-brown on all sides.
  7. Take it out of the oven and let cool down on a cooling rack. After 10 minutes, take it out of the tray and let it cool down directly over the cooling rack.
  8. When completely cool, slice in half like a big bagel and fill with your favourite filling. I used spaghetti squash preserve (cabello de ángel). Hide the tokens in the filling if you want to. We normally have a king figurine and a hard fava bean (you can wrap them in tin foil). But if you use them, please remember to tell your guests to eat carefully.
You can keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days, but it’s best to eat it fresh.

Bon profit!