Another holiday cake studded with candied fruit? Seriously? My first reaction to Roscón de Los Reyes, or Three King’s Cake, was about as enthusiastic as the traditional Texas Fruitcake™ my mom would gift to just about everyone we knew – despite the equally traditional jokes about fruitcake. After all, when you are little, you tend to go with popular opinion.
And even though I am older and should be wiser, I was still somewhat suspicious about this Spanish cousin to the family heirloom fruitcake. But I soon discovered that a Roscón, while festooned with some of the same sugar-spiked fruit, is quite a different type of treat. And no one seems to make fun of it.
Quite the opposite, this holiday dessert is the long-awaited pinnacle of a prolonged Christmas season, complete with a secret prize buried deep into the crown-shaped dough and a little dried bean. Cake and a party game all rolled into one? Now, you had my attention.
So when I received a text message from my BFF, Michelin chef María José San Román, that her eponymous San Román bakery had just pulled a batch of roscónes hot from the oven, I was keen to give them a try. Especially because María José’s favorite ingredient, extra virgin olive oil, was the star ingredient.
And naturally, it didn’t evade my notice that the inclusion of EVOO would place it right at the top of the Mediterranean Diet pyramid. But before diving into a slice and washing it down with some cava, I had to back up and do some homework about the cake, the prize, and the bean.
Unlike the US when Christmas and New Year festivities head off stage right, life in Spain and other Catholic-dominant countries of Europe does not get back to normal because the biggest event has yet to happen. The Catholic feast of the Epiphany, or “el día de Los Reyes” celebrates the visit of the Three Wise Men to bestow gifts upon Baby Jesus and always occurs 12 days after Christmas.
Spanish children know that they will be there to bestow gifts on them too, if they have been good and remember to leave their shoes outside their doors on the night of January 5. These same Wise Men are far more favored than Santa, almost 3 to 1 in children’s minds (no joking aside, the stats back me up on this one).
The holiday is heralded with the arrival of the Three Kings in elaborate, hours-long parades through the center of many Spanish towns. The biggest bash is held in Madrid, the oldest parade rolls out in Alcoi, but Alicante holds its own with the Kings dropping into their Mediterranean port town from a Guardia Civil boat on January 5.
And the connection between the cake and the king? Well, look closely and you’ll see the resemblance between his gem-encrusted crown and the jeweled-studded cake. Whoever finds a little ceramic figurine in their slice is crowned King or Queen for the day. The recipient of the hidden bean gets the honor to buy the roscón for next year’s celebration.
