Three kings day bread eaten on January 6th. Soft, sweet bread with dried fruit and decoration paste on top.

The three kings day is fast approaching. That means it is time to learn how to make rosca de reyes! I learned about this tradition from my husband and have been following it every year now.

What is 3 kings day?

3 kings days falls every year on January 6. According to my husband, most of Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries observe Three Kings Day, also known as Día de Los Tres Reyes Magos. It’s a Christian tradition that occurs on January 6, remembering the wise men’s gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh to Jesus.

During Día de Los Reyes, they serve Rosca de Reyes, or King’s Cake. “Rosca” means wreath and “reyes” means kings. The Rosca de Reyes has an oval shape to symbolize a crown and has a small doll inside, which represents baby Jesus. The doll figure symbolizes the hiding of the infant Jesus from King Herod’s troops. Traditionally, roscas are decorated with dried and candied fruits to symbolize the jewels that a crown would have. The family will gather together and will cut the bread together. Everyone gets a slice and whoever gets the little baby Jesus doll in their bread has to cook a meal on Día de la Candelaria on February 2nd.

Instead of buying the store ones, why not make them at home? With this rosca de reyes receta it will be more fresh and fun to make as well. If you can’t find the exact same fruit that they sell on the bread you can use other dried fruit like me. Today I will show you my take on the rosca de reyes bread. Feel free to personalize your bread with spices and or different toppings to make the best rosca de reyes bread.

Scroll down to check out the ingredients needed for the Rosca de Reyes Recipe with step by step instructions!
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Click HERE to watch the step by step instructions on YouTube

Rosca de Reyes | Three Kings Bread

Rosca de Reyes Ingredients

Decoration Paste:
✿ 75 Grams Butter
✿ 50 Grams Powdered Sugar
✿ 75 Grams Flour
✿ 1 Tablespoon Custard Powder
✿ 1 Egg Yolk
✿ Optional: Food Coloring

✿ Dried Candied Fruit

Tangzhong:
✿ 25 Grams Bread Flour
✿ 80 Milliliters Milk

Bread Dough:
✿ 400 Grams Bread Flour
✿ 120 Milliliters Milk
✿ 7 Grams Yeast
✿ 15 Grams Sugar
✿ 80 Grams condensed Milk
✿ 1 Egg
✿ ½ Teaspoon Salt
✿ 50 Grams Butter

Rosca de Reyes INSTRUCTIONS | Click here for the recipe video

For the Rosca de Reyes, I will be using my basic bread dough.

Make the water roux first. Add ingredients to a pot and cook on low heat until paste forms.

Activate yeast with sugar and lukewarm milk. Add all the ingredients to the standmixer. Mix on low speed until dough comes together. Increase speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl. Let it rest for 1 hour.

I'm making medium size Rosca de Reyes. So I will divide my dough in 2. Roll dough out in a rectangle. Roll it up tightly in a string. Roll it out more. Roll one end flat. Bring the 2 ends together and pinch to seal. Rest for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Let's make the decoration paste/topping. Mix until combined. Knead with hands if preferred. If you want to make colored paste add food coloring.

Wrap up the paste. Flatten in desired thickness. Refrigerate until use. When ready to use, cut in desired sizes to top the bread.


Optional: brush bread with milk or egg wash. Top with dried fruit and decoration paste.

Optional: sprinkle sugar on top of decoration paste.
Bake at 350F for 20 - 25 Min.

Cool down completely before serving. Once cooled down you can hide baby jesus inside! ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

TIPS & NOTES
✿ Use your favorite dried candied fruit as topping.

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this recipe make a picture and hashtag #PYsKitchen or Tag me @PYS.kitchen. I would love to see your creations on instagram! ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

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