All About the Spanish Three Kings Cake.
It’s that time of the year to feast on Kings cakes – whether it’s a part of your culture or you simply want to enjoy another culture’s traditions. Here is the Roscón de Reyes history and the traditions that come with the cake.
All About Spain’s Kings Cake
Roscón de Reyes translates to the cake of the kings, referring to the Three Kings who brought baby Jesus gifts on January 6. In Spain, the cake is eaten for breakfast on the morning of January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany that celebrates the Three Kings.
The roscón is a large donut-shaped cake that is more like a sweet brioche bread and it is cut horizontally and filled with whipped cream. While it is traditionally eaten for breakfast on January 6, it can also be enjoyed through the Christmas period as a snack or dessert and served with hot chocolate.
The cake is in the shape of a crown to represent the kings and also a ring which symbolizes eternal love. The colorful dried fruit topped on the cake emulates the jewels of a crown with the green color depicting faith and gold depicting power.
Inside the whipped cream is a small hidden figurine of the baby Jesus and often there is also a bean. The person with the slice containing the figurine is crowned king for the day, while the person who has the bean will pay for the cake next year.
Roscon de Reyes History
The history of the cake dates back as far as Ancient Rome with a pagan tradition celebrating the winter solstice. A round cake was created for the festivities decorated with figs, dates, and honey. By the 3rd century, a dried bean was hidden inside the cake and that person became the king of kings for the day.
As Christianity spread, the cake soon transferred like an Advent wreath. The first written reference to the cake was found in the 12th century. It was described much like the French Kings cake.
By the 14th century, present-day traditions of Three Kings cakes were started and soon continued into Spain and the Americas. In the 18th century, King Philip V of Spain officially made it a traditional holiday snack for the monarch and noble class.
The French cake has kept the tradition of a bean inside their galette. In Spain, the use of a small porcelain figurine popularized to further represent baby Jesus and how his parents hid him from the persecution of King Herod who ordered the massacre of firstborns when he heard a new king was born. Eating the cake and finding the figurine on Three Kings Day represents how the Kings followed the star, found baby Jesus, and honored his birth.
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