Have you been good this year? In Catalonia, the traditional day when those who have behaved themselves receive gifts is January 6th - the Epiphany, or the day of the three kings. So, will the kings bring you everything that you have asked for - your just desserts - or, as the tradition goes, just coal?
Yes, there is a special dessert - the tortell de reis or kings' cake - associated with this special day, and our chef Romain Fornell and confectioner Rocío Parejo are here to reveal its secrets, so that you can impress family or friends by making your own for the final feast of the festive season!
The ring-shaped tortell is a very important element of the culinary tradition of Catalonia, and it turns up in several celebrations throughout the year. In fact, you can find it in the cakeshops practically every Sunday, as well as on some several specific dates during the year.
It's a more elaborate recipe than most of those we present in this dessert section. It requires days, in fact. The night before you prepare the cakemix, there's one thing you can do in advance: mix the sugar with the lime and lemon zest so that the citrus flavour is intensified. Then, the next day, mix all the dry ingredients into a homogeneous dough, adding the butter last and slowly so that the dough stays whole.
At this point another day goes by: we leave our dough in repose for 24 hours, and the following day we roll it out and give it a round shape, add the sugar and the candied fruit — in this case we have chosen orange and melon— and we put it in the oven. A nice detail to give it a special touch is to spray some orange blossom water over it when it goes into the oven, to sweeten it up a little. And there it is! We can fill it with custard or cream or just enjoy it as it is.
Ingredients for the kings' cake
- 360g (3cups) flour
- 80g (1/3 cup) sugar
- 13g (3tspn) inverted sugar
- 4g (1tspn) baking powder
- 70g egg yolks (about 4)
- 75g of eggs (about 2)
- 60ml (4 tablesp) water
- 30g (1oz) fresh yeast
- 7g (1tspn) salt
- 140g (1/2 cup) butter
- 30g (1 oz) candied fruit
- Lime and lemon zest
- Aromas of orange tree flower
Recipe
The night before: mix the zest and the sugar.
Day 2:
1. Mix the fresh yeast in the water and keep aside.
2. Add the flour, baking powder, the sugar with the zest mixed in and the inverted sugar
3. In a cake mixer, mix all the ingredients till they form a homogenous mass
4. Add the eggs and the yolks. Then add the watery fresh yeast.
5. Mix for 3 minutes until the dough begins to form
6. Slowly add the butter until it mixes into the dough
7. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic film
8. Put it in the fridge for 24 hours
Day 3:
1. Cover your hands in oil, and begin to shape the dough. It has to be smooth and round.
2. Once shaped, let it ferment for 90 minutes. Then paint it with oil and decorate it with the candied fruit.
3. Bake in the oven at 170º C for 20 minutes. Spray orange blossom water over it before you bake.