Roscón de Reyes

The story

Roscón de Reyes, the ring-shaped cake with candied fruit eaten for Epiphany on January 6, has roots going back to the Roman festival of Saturnalia, when a similar cake decorated with figs and dates was made, and the person who found a hidden bean in their piece became “king for a day”—even if that person was a slave. Today a small figurine is hidden in the dough, bringing luck to whoever finds it, along with a bean, whose discovery carries a less pleasant but nearly institutionalized penalty: the finder must pay for next year's roscón. With sales estimated at more than 26 million cakes a year in Spain—more than one for every two inhabitants—this seemingly playful tradition amounts to a real, recurring obligation for many families. The cake is usually cut and eaten on the morning of January 6, while the children are still opening the presents brought by the Three Kings, not by Santa Claus. For Spanish families in the diaspora, the hunt for the figurine and the dread of the bean make for one of the most entertaining moments of the holiday season.