"The Three Kings Cake"

In Christmas time in Spain is very typical to buy the famous “The Three Kings Cake” or what it is called in Spanish “Roscón de Reyes”. Spanish people celebrate every sixth of January, Epiphany, by eating each family this dessert after having lunch. I find very interesting to look for the origin of this famous custom and I find so interesting things that surprised me.

I have been researching for the first creation of the first cake. It is rooted in a Christian celebration in the eleventh century known as the “King of the bean”. This celebration consists on the choice of one among the poorest children in a village to crown king of the Epiphany and present him with gifts, clothes and dishes.

This popular festival also was celebrated in family homes, at the same day. In their homes there was a “sweet thread” in which they introduced a surprise inside: a coin or a little doll, often a small plastic baby, said to represent Baby Jesus. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket was crowned king and he was the head of the table that day. But also this person has the obligation of buying the cake for the next celebration and I must confess that in my family we never carry out this last rule; my mother every year buy the cake despite getting the surprise or not.

I think that this tradition of make this sweetest cake is only a popular custom in Spain but with my deep research I realize that in France, Belgium, Quebec, Switzerland, (which is called galette or gâteau des Rois), in Portugal (wich is called bolo rei), in Spanish America (roscón o rosca de reyes and tortell in California), in Greece and Cyprus (vasilopita) and finally in Bulgaria (banitsa) are so well known as in Spain are.