Recipe to prepare your Roscón de Reyes at home

A very special day is coming up, Three Kings Day. It is special for children, because of the gifts that the three Wise Men will have left them; and special for the family, since there are many who take the opportunity to celebrate together that day. And at that table there will be no shortage of desserts: a traditional Roscón de Reyes!

What could be more beautiful than being able to enjoy the one that you have prepared yourself? Making it at home is easier than it may seem: the Roscón de Reyes recipe is brought to us by Rosa, author of Pemberley Cup&Cakes . You just need a little patience to make it, since it requires its fermentation and rising times, but following the steps you will see that it is not complicated and Rosa details them wonderfully well. Go for it!

I recognize that making our own Roscón de Reyes at home for the first time can be somewhat intimidating if we are not familiar with this type of dough, since it requires planning the time in advance, arming ourselves with patience and dedicating a little more attention than to other recipes that are somewhat less laborious.

However, believe me when I tell you that this is by no means an unachievable feat, reserved for a select few. Actually, anyone who sets his mind to it is capable of getting out of this challenge; we just have to respect the times and the different points of the recipe and we will see with emotion that all our dedication will have been well invested by the time we savor the first bite. I guarantee that if you go step by step, an incredibly fragrant and tender crumb awaits you that will make it really difficult for you to decide when to stop. Come on, guaranteed success.

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Even so, I have to warn you before continuing to tempt you; At home we have been making our Roscón de Reyes for several years and now it is almost unthinkable that we can settle for any commercial version. In addition to the satisfaction of enjoying a traditional recipe prepared by ourselves and the peace of mind of having personally chosen each of the ingredients, the aroma that remains at home lasts for days, even before starting to bake, and is absolutely irresistible.

Ingredients (for 1 large roscón or 2 medium roscón)

All ingredients must be at room temperature, unless otherwise indicated.

for the preference

• 125ml whole milk, warm
• 5g of fresh baker's yeast
• 130g of strong flour

For the main dough

• 125g superfine sugar
• Zest of half a lemon (only the yellow part)
• Zest of half an orange (only the orange part)
• 10g of fresh baker's yeast
• 3 tablespoons whole milk, warm
• 390 - 425gr of strong flour
• 2 eggs (M)
• 1 ½ tablespoons orange blossom water
• 1 tablespoon of soft honey (orange blossom, acacia, etc.)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 115g unsalted butter
• Vegetable oil for greasing

For decoration

• 1 beaten egg
• Pearl sugar (or failing that, white sugar moistened with a few drops of water)
• candied fruit to taste
• laminated almonds
• Dry bean, various figurines (optional, but never plastic)

*1 tablespoon=15 ml ; 1 teaspoon=5ml*

Elaboration

Of the preferment

1. In a medium bowl , dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk (be careful, it shouldn't get hot, just slightly warm to the touch!). Let rest for 1 minute.

2. In another separate bowl, place the flour, make a hole in the center and, little by little, add the mixture of milk and yeast while stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon until everything is well integrated into a dense dough. and quite sticky.

3. Cover with transparent film and refrigerate overnight (8 to 12 hours maximum).

The preferment, with a sticky and dense texture

4. In the morning, remove from the refrigerator (despite the cold, the dough will have grown and visibly fluffed up) and let it acclimate to room temperature for about 1 ½ hours. until you lose the cold completely.

of the main mass

1. In a medium bowl , thoroughly rub together the sugar and citrus zest with your fingertips until it looks like wet sand and the oils from the fruit's skin have been released. We booked.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl , dissolve the yeast in the warm (again, never hot) milk and mix until dissolved. Let rest for 1 minute.

3. In another large bowl, we initially place 390 g of the flour and make a hole in the center with the help of a spatula (if we are going to use a kitchen robot or electric mixer to knead , we will use its own bowl and the accessory of kneading hook).

4. Next, pour the mixture of milk and yeast, flavored sugar, eggs, salt, orange blossom water and honey into the hole formed and mix slowly until all the ingredients are well integrated; we will end up with a dense, firm and still somewhat dry dough.

5. Next, we added the preferment that we had prepared and began to knead gently until we obtained a smooth and homogeneous dough.

On the left, the main dough before adding the preferment; on the right, dough with the added preferment and both doughs are already well integrated

6. Once we have both masses perfectly integrated, we begin to add the butter in several batches (I have been dividing it up to 5 additions) gradually and without stopping kneading; We will not add more butter until the previous portion has been completely incorporated. It is possible that, at times, we come to think that the dough has gone bad because it will acquire a very loose appearance, but it is only a matter of continuing to knead and everything will take shape.

7. Once all the butter has been incorporated, we continue to knead with a little more energy for about 8-10 minutes (a little more if we knead by hand) until we get a soft and elastic dough, although it will be somewhat oily. If it is too sticky, we can add the remaining 35 g of flour, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the desired texture is obtained (it may not be necessary to add all of it). We will know that our dough is well kneaded when it detaches without difficulty from the bowl (or from our hands and from the work surface); that will mean that the gluten has developed correctly. To make sure, we take a pinch of dough between the thumb and index finger of both hands, stretch it gently and check if a translucent and smooth membrane is formed. If so, you're done.

8. Next, we shape the dough into a ball with our hands, place it in a large bowl , previously greased with a thin film of vegetable oil, cover with transparent film and let it rest in a warm place away from drafts for 1 – 1 ½ hours (you can use a kitchen clock ) or until it has doubled in volume approximately.

Dough before and after rising

9. After this time, carefully place the dough on a work surface, degas it by gently pressing it with your knuckles about 4-5 times, cover with the transparent film (without adjusting) and let it relax for about 10 minutes.

10. If we are going to make two roscones, now divide the dough into two equal parts, cutting it with a large, sharp knife or a baker's scraper (never breaking it with your hands) and round each part (or all the dough if we are going to make a single bagel) until a good surface tension is achieved. Once again, let the dough relax for another 5-10 minutes.

11. Next, we go on to shape the roscón, for which we will insert our fingers into the center from the bottom until we open a hole on the surface, which we will gradually enlarge (if we see that the dough tends to shrink, it is It may not be sufficiently relaxed; we will let it rest for another 5-10 minutes to be able to handle it comfortably).

12. Next, we place our roscón on the oven tray, previously covered with parchment paper or a reusable silicone mat (if we make two roscones, we will need two trays). So that the central hole does not close during the next (and last) rise or during baking, either place a round plating ring or cookie cutter in the center (about 10 cm in diameter will be enough), previously greased with a little of vegetable oil, or we enlarge the hole twice the diameter that we would like as final. (If we are going to include the traditional little surprises or beans inside our roscón, we will do it now very carefully, introducing them from the bottom, always wrapped in transparent film).

13. With the help of a pastry brush , paint the entire surface of the dough with beaten egg, cover with transparent film, previously greased with a thin film of vegetable oil, and, once again, let our roscón(s) rest ( es) in a warm place away from drafts until doubled in volume (about 2 – 2 ½ more hours).

Formed and raised roscón

14. When we see that the dough is almost ready, we preheat the electric oven (without air) to 200ºC with heat above and below.

15. Brush the entire surface of the dough again with the beaten egg and decorate to taste with candied fruits, pearl sugar, sliced ​​almonds...

16. We put the tray with the roscón in the lower third of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. After this time, we reduce the temperature to 180ºC and continue baking for another 10-12 minutes until it is golden brown (if we see that it is browning excessively, we can place a little aluminum foil on top loosely).

17. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. (If we have used rings for the central hole, we will remove them when at least 20 minutes have passed; as it cools down, in addition to not burning us, they separate more easily.)

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The tenderness of a freshly made roscón only lasts the first day, that is, freshly made, but it can be kept more or less tender for 2-3 days well covered and protected from the air.

Grades

Plan your time in advance taking into account that, as a guide, you will need:

Preferment: 8 – 12 hours (refrigerated) + 1 ½ hours (room temperature)
1st rise: 1 – 1 ½ hours (or until doubled in volume)
2nd rise: 2 – 2 ½ hours (or until doubled in volume)
Baking: 20 – 22 minutes

That is, if you start the day before, you can already enjoy your roscón the afternoon of the following day. Not a bad plan, right?

Instead of superfine sugar, you can use regular white sugar, although since the baking time is so short, the former integrates better. If you can't find it, it's very easy to do it at home, because you just have to "grind" the normal white sugar with a hand or glass blender until you get a finer grain.

Respecting the times and observing the evolution are essential to end up enjoying a good roscón. If we exceed the rising time, our roscón will collapse and fall apart during baking, since its structure will not be able to maintain the excess gas formed. On the contrary, if we don't let it rise enough, we will end up with a dense and tight crumb. So, no more is better and no rush.

There are other methods to make our own roscón at home, some somewhat (little) simpler and others more elaborate. I think this one achieves a formidable balance between process and result. The slow and cold leavening of the preferment provides a flavor and texture to the final crumb that is difficult to compare with other faster versions.

So encourage yourself to prepare your homemade Roscón de Reyes and you will see what an experience. A hug to all and happy holidays.

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