Spanish Roscon De Reyes Twelfth Night Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare Batter
• Sift flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Make a hole in the center of the flour.
• In a small mixing bowl, stir and dissolve the dry yeast in the lukewarm milk-water mixture.
• Once dissolved, pour the dissolved yeast into the center of the flour. Stir in just enough flour from around the bowl to make a thick batter.
• Allow to Rise
• With your hand, grab about a teaspoon of the flour from the side of bowl and sprinkle it over the top of batter. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place, away from any draft. Allow batter to turn spongy, about 15 minutes.
• Cream Butter and Sugar
• In a medium-size mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to beat together the butter and sugar. The mixture should be smooth and creamy. Set aside.
• Put grated orange and lemon rinds, eggs, brandy and water to the bowl with flour misture. Mix all. The dough will be sticky.
• Combine Ingredients and Let Rise
• Beat flour mixture until it is elastic and smooth. Beat in butter-sugar mixture and mix until the dough is smooth. Dough should be formed into a ball, then covered with oiled plastic wrap.
• Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it again in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size. This will take approximately 1.5 hours.
• While you are waiting for the dough to rise, grease a large baking sheet with vegetable shortening and set aside for use later. If you will use a baking stone, no need to grease it
• Knead, Roll and Let Rise
• Once dough has doubled, remove plastic wrap and punch dough down. Lightly flour a clean counter or cutting board and place dough on it. Knead for 2-3 minutes. Then, using a rolling pin, roll dough into a long rectangle, about 2 feet long and 5-6 inches wide.
• Roll the dough on the long side into a sausage shape. Carefully place the dough onto the large baking sheet or stone and connect the ends together, forming a ring. If you will hide a bean or a small foil-wrapped, ceramic figurine in the cake, now is the time to tuck it under the dough. Cover with oiled plastic wrap again. Leave in a warm place and allow to double in size. This will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Decorate and Bake
• Heat oven to 350F degrees. Lightly beat the egg white in a bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the top of the cake. Decorate the ring with the candied fruit pieces. Push them into the dough slightly so that they do not fall off. Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

Steps:

• The Dough.
• This makes a high-rising, soft but very springy dough. I use the sweet bread, not the dough setting, because it requires two full kneadings and risings before shaping. I take the dough out just before the baking cycle starts, punch it down and flatten it into a long 1" thick, 5" wide rectangle, sprinkle it with the cinnamon streusel or other filling and roll it up, shaping the long roll on a buttered cookie sheet.
• I pinch the ends together to make a full circle. Let rise in a warm place covered by a damp towel for about 50 minutes, then place in a cold oven, turn on to 375 degrees, and bake about 45 minutes until well risen and a deep golden brown.
• The filling: After it cools, glaze generously with a thin, lemony sugar glaze, then sprinkle with colored sugars in stripes. Use a traditional boiled white frosting with 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of water and two egg whites, flavored with lemon, butter and vanilla, or try the light lemon glaze.
• If making the Light lemon glaze. Mix until mixture is smooth and can be drizzled onto the cake. A boiled icing recipe with two cups of sugar is low fat and a good alternative.
• Color sugar crystals (green, purple) by working in a few drops of food coloring and add gold dragées. As soon as the glaze is poured, sprinkle colored stripes on the glaze.
• A tiny china or plastic baby doll or a red bean is inserted underneath before glazing- I put mine in AFTER I bake the roll!
• Store the king cakecovered at room temperature- it is really a bread, and dries out in the refrigerator. I use a foodsafe plastic trash bag (small white Glad).