THREE KINGS CAKE

 It is traditional to have this cake during Christmas, specially the night before the Three Kings visit the houses with presents for all kids :-)  It is delicious with hot chocolate

INGREDIENTS

- 2 eggs 

- 100 ml warm milk 

- 15 ml Orange and lemon juice

- Lemon and orange zest 

- 20 gr Orange blossom water 

- 75 gr butter

- 100 gr sugar

- Nutmeg and Salt 

- Some honey 

- A portion of baker's yeast 

- 450 gr strong wheat flour

DECORATION 

- A beaten egg 

- Humidified sugar

- Orange slices 

- Crunchy Sweet almond

STEPS

First of all we have to prepare the ingredients for the dough.

Grate the Orange peel

And the lemon peel too

Save the lemon and Orange zest for later

Squeeze the orange 

And the lemon and save both juices for later 

Measure:

100 ml of Milk (about 100 gr)

20 gr of Orange blossom water 

75 gr butter

And melt it in the microwave using low temperature

Beat Two eggs

Measure 100 gr sugar

And 450 gr strong wheat flour

Now we are going to mix the previous ingredients using a big bowl

The Milk (it must be warm)

The orange and lemon juice

the orange blossom water

The beaten eggs

The melted butter

The sugar

Mix everything and go on adding ingredients 

The Orange and lemon zest

Some honey

Generous Nutmeg

And a pinch of Salt

Dissolve the baker's yeast 

And finally pour the strong wheat flour

Mix till you obtain a homogenous batter. It must not stick on the bowl's walls so you will probablyl need to add more flour to the mixture

Prepare a transparent kitchen plastic with some Olive oil

Spread it using your hands

Cover the dough

And leave it settle and grow for two hours

As you can see it has grown! Thanks to the plastic wet in oil, the dough won't stick on it

Prepare the countertop with flour. You need to knead the dough for a while, it must not stick in your hands, you can help yourself soaking your hands with oil.

Make a ball with the dough and place it over the oven tray prepared with a baking paper.

Make a big hole in the center. Be sure that it is big enough, as the dough will go on growing and it can "dissapear"! If that happens, the cake wouldn't have the traditional shape...

Now it's time to decorate the cake. Beat an egg 

And "paint" all the cake's surface 

Place some Orange slices cut into halves

Humidify some sugar

And put it over the cake, in those gaps between the orange slices

Finally, spread some Crunchy sweet almond 

Leave it settle and grow for three or four hours inside a cool place (I use the oven, switched off)

Until it doubles its size

Pre - heat the oven 180 degrees, once it is ready, bake the cake during 20 -25 minutes, the surface must be brown. To check that it is cooked inside use a toothpick, poke the cake and take it out. If it leaves clean, that means the cake is cooked.

It's huge!! :-) leave it cool and settle 

Yummy!!

Serving suggestion: with hot chocolate