Rosca Conventual de Reyes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook or a wide wooden table for hand kneading
• •Half sheet pan lined with parchment
• •Bench scraper for handling enriched dough
• •Pastry brush for egg wash and orange glaze
• •Small saucepan for the orange syrup
• •Oval Puebla talavera platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, 1 tablespoon of the dough sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the measured bread flour. Let it stand for 10 minutes, until foamy and alive. If it sits there flat, your yeast is dead. Start again. Bread does not forgive dead yeast.

2. 2

   Build the dough

   Add the remaining bread flour, remaining dough sugar, salt, eggs, egg yolks, agua de azahar, orange zest, and Mexican vanilla to the yeast mixture. Mix on low until a rough dough forms. It will look sticky and slightly stubborn. Good. Enriched dough begins messy before it becomes obedient.

3. 3

   Work in butter

   Knead on medium-low for 5 minutes, then add the softened butter one piece at a time. Wait until each piece disappears before adding the next. Continue kneading 10 to 12 minutes in the mixer, or 18 to 20 minutes by hand, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls in long sheets when stretched. Do not keep throwing flour at it. Too much flour makes a dry rosca.

   The dough is ready when a small piece stretches thin before tearing. If it rips immediately, knead longer. Time is cheaper than ruined bread.
4. 4

   Let it rise

   Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly buttered bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled. Look at the dough, not the clock. A cold kitchen in January will slow it down. The señoras in the convent ovens knew this before anyone owned a thermometer.

5. 5

   Make sugar paste

   While the dough rises, make the convent sugar paste. Mash the softened butter with the confectioners' sugar and all-purpose flour until it forms a soft dough. If it refuses to come together, add the tablespoon of milk, a few drops at a time. Divide into 8 small pieces and flatten each into a short band. These pale bands should sit on the rosca like the white strips on a concha.

6. 6

   Shape the ring

   Line a half sheet pan with parchment. Turn the risen dough onto a lightly floured table and press out the gas with your palms. Let it rest 10 minutes, then roll it into a thick rope about 30 inches long. Join the ends firmly and form a large oval ring on the pan. Make the center hole wider than you think it should be, because the final rise and baking will close it.

7. 7

   Hide the Niños

   If using ceramic food-safe figurines, press them into the underside of the dough now, spaced apart, then pinch the dough closed around them. If using plastic figurines, do not bake them. Set them aside and insert them from the bottom after the rosca is baked. Tell the adults at the table how many figures are hidden. Tradition is not an excuse for carelessness.

8. 8

   Proof again

   Cover the shaped rosca loosely with a clean towel and let it rise 45 to 75 minutes, until puffy and light but not collapsing. Heat the oven to 350F during the last 20 minutes. If you press the dough gently and the mark slowly fills back in, it is ready. If it springs back hard, wait. No me vengas con atajos.

9. 9

   Decorate the crown

   Brush the rosca lightly with egg wash. Lay the sugar paste bands across the dough, leaving open spaces between them. Arrange the higos cristalizados, legal acitrón de chilacayote, candied orange peel, ate strips, and sliced almonds over the top, pressing gently so they hold. Sprinkle the sugar paste bands with the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Do not bury the bread under fruit. The rosca is bread first, decoration second.

10. 10

    Bake until golden

    Bake for 28 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan once, until the crust is deep golden and the center of the thickest part reads 190F. The bottom should sound hollow when tapped. If the fruit darkens too fast, tent the rosca loosely with foil. Underbaked enriched dough sinks in the center and tastes heavy. Give it its full time.

11. 11

    Glaze the crust

    While the rosca bakes, simmer the orange juice and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan for 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the teaspoon of agua de azahar. Brush the hot baked rosca with the orange glaze. The crust should shine without turning wet.

12. 12

    Insert and serve

    If using plastic figurines, let the rosca cool 15 minutes, then make small cuts in the underside and insert them where no one can see. Cool at least 30 minutes before cutting so the crumb sets. Serve on a Puebla talavera platter with chocolate caliente or café de olla. Whoever finds the Niño brings tamales on February 2. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Buy higo cristalizado, candied orange peel, and chilacayote cristalizado from a real dulcería or a good mercado stall. If the fruit is neon, sticky in a plastic tub, and smells like nothing, leave it there. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Old recipes call for acitrón de biznaga. The biznaga cactus is protected now. Use legal acitrón de chilacayote or another properly candied squash. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade, but this one respects the land that fed the recipe.
• •Use butter in the dough, not oil. Oil makes soft bread, yes, but it does not give the same flavor or structure. This is convent baking, not a packaged supermarket roll.
• •The center hole must look too large when you shape it. If it looks perfect before proofing, it will close in the oven. Bread grows. Plan for it.
• •Rosca is best the day it is baked. The next morning, toast thick slices on a comal and eat them with hot chocolate. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be mixed the night before. Let it rise 45 minutes at room temperature, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight. Shape it cold the next morning and allow extra time for the final proof.
• •The sugar paste can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Let it soften until pliable before shaping the bands.
• •The candied fruit can be sliced 1 day ahead and stored covered at room temperature. Keep the higo and chilacayote separate so the colors stay clean.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)