Roscon de Reyes is a traditional holiday dessert, served the night before or morning of “Reyes” or Epiphany, January 6th. Dia de Reyes or simply called Reyes nowadays by most everyone is the day when children in Spain receive their gifts from the Reyes Magos – Wise Men or Magi. This is a reference to the three kings who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. In Spain, instead of receiving gifts from Santa Claus or as he is called in Spain Papa Noel, they receive them from the Reyes Magos.
It is traditional to put several surprises inside the roscon. Before the baker places the roscon in the oven, she wraps porcelain figure of a baby in aluminum foil and a haba or dry bean. Whoever finds the baby in their piece of roscon will have good luck and be the king of the party, while whoever finds the haba must pay for the roscon. There is a saying in Spanish that says exactly that: “Si es el haba lo encontrado, el Roscon pagaras; mas si ello es la figura, coronado y Rey seras…”Roscon de Reyes - Twelfth Night Bread (c) 2007 L. Sierra Licensed to About.com
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Comments
I’ve tried this when i was living in Spain and it ROCKED my world