Rosca de Reyes

While many have already taken down their Christmas tree and lights, we’re still partying hard here at Qué Bueno Bakery celebrating the full twelve days of Christmas. This Rosca de Reyes is a special sweet bread eaten specifically on the Feast of the Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas. This is the day that the three kings came to adore Jesus and offer him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Traditionally the date is January 6th, but here in the US the feast day is transferred to Sunday, which is the 8th this year. It is also customary in many Latino households to not get any gifts for Christmas until Epiphany, the day Jesus also got gifts. Many kiddos look forward to this day, not only to eat this delicious bread, but to finally see what is under the Christmas tree.

This bread is topped with dried or candied fruit which symbolizes jewels for the King. A bean or little plastic baby that is hidden in the bread represents Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt to hide Jesus from King Herod who wanted to kill Jesus to ensure his own throne.

Tradition holds that family, friends, and neighbors gather to share this bread. The lucky person who gets the bean or baby in his/her slice gets a special blessing and the responsibility to throw the party for Candlemas or el Día de la Candelaria on February 2. This day celebrates the day Jesus was presented at the Temple. The expected menu for this party is tamales or pozole and atole.

Our Rosca is a citrus-flavored sweet bread filled with dried figs, cherries, apricots, and cranberries. We omit nuts and almond extract for allergy reasons. We top the bread with candied cherries, figs, and a vanilla glaze. We hide a bean in the bread instead of the plastic baby so keep your eye out for it.

Let us know if you’d like to order a Rosca!

$20 each.

Serves 10-14 depending how generous you want to be with your slices.

This Rosca is vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, and peanut/tree nut-free.

Contains: wheat and soy

As with all our baked goods, we do our utmost to prevent allergen cross-contamination but all allergens are present in the Qué Bueno Bakery kitchen.