Drei Königskuchen - Three Kings Cake
Three Kings Cake; A fluffy, light, and sweet brioche-like bread that's absolutely perfect for breakfast or a sweet dinner, with a little surprise inside. Not only will your kids love it, but the entire family!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g All-purpose flour
- 30 g Sugar
- 10 g Salt
- 2 tsp Instant dry yeast
- 320 g Whole milk
- 60 g Butter melted
- 1 tbsp Honey
- Almonds sliced
- Granular sugar
Instructions
- Add All-purpose flour, Instant dry yeast, salt, and sugar to your stand mixer and mix for a few seconds. Don't worry if you don't have one of these fancy kneaders, just use a big bowl instead.
- Carefully melt the butter in the microwave on the soft/melt setting or on low heat on the stove in a saucepan. Add milk, melted butter, and honey to the dry ingredients.
- Knead dry and wet ingredients together until you have a smooth, stretchy dough. If you use a stand mixer, start on slow speed for a while, then turn it to a fast rate for the last few minutes. If you knead by hand, do so for about 15-20min. I know it's a workout, but you need to work that dough until it is nice and smooth to achieve a light and airy bread.
- Form the dough into a ball. Place it in a big, lightly floured bowl and cover it up with a wet kitchen towel, or something similar, to keep it from drying out. Let it rest to rise for at least 1 ½ hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 392 Fahrenheit or 200 Celsius
- Take risen dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured surface.
- Take your kitchen scale and weigh eight small dough pieces and one bigger one for the middle. I made my small buns 50g each and the center bun 150g. That will give you some extra dough. I went ahead and made a second, smaller, Three Kings Cake. But you can also make bigger buns to use up all the dough for just one Königskuchen.
- Roll each dough piece into a ball. Place the king figure or a nut/bean in one of the small buns. Start with your center bun, and then add the eight smaller buns around it.
- Crack one egg into a small bowl and whisk it slightly. Brush the whole bread with the egg wash. Make sure you get every part of the bread, or it will bake with an uneven color.
- Let it rest for another 20min. Then brush it with egg wash again, and sprinkle granular sugar and a few sliced almonds over it.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
Wrap leftover Drei Königskuchen with aluminum foil and let it sit on the counter.
➙ King Arthur All-purpose flour is my go-to flour. It’s unbleached and very versatile; it’s strong enough for bread dough and gentle enough to make pastry and cakes. I use it in all my recipes, calling for flour or all-purpose flour.
➙➙ I don’t own a kitchen aid mixer but have a fantastic food processor that I use for everything, including dough making. It works perfectly, and I would not ever want to give it away!
➙➙➙ Instant dry yeast: There is no need to mix this yeast with warm milk or water. Instead, you can directly mix it in with the dry ingredients. I don't use any other yeast!
Nutrition
Calories: 656kcalCarbohydrates: 111gProtein: 16gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 1113mgPotassium: 246mgFiber: 3gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 504IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 114mgIron: 6mg
Nutrition Facts
Drei Königskuchen - Three Kings Cake
Amount per Serving
Calories
656
% Daily Value*
Fat
16
g
25
%
Saturated Fat
9
g
56
%
Trans Fat
1
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
4
g
Cholesterol
40
mg
13
%
Sodium
1113
mg
48
%
Potassium
246
mg
7
%
Carbohydrates
111
g
37
%
Fiber
3
g
13
%
Sugar
16
g
18
%
Protein
16
g
32
%
Vitamin A
504
IU
10
%
Vitamin C
1
mg
1
%
Calcium
114
mg
11
%
Iron
6
mg
33
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.