King's fare: a culinary epiphany

January 6th is the 12th day (Twelfth Night for Shakespeareans) of Christmas, otherwise known as the feast of the epiphany or the night of the kings. This is celebrated in Catholic countries with special cakes which contain hidden tokens. The person whose slice contains the token is crowned "king" of the occasion. Mexican pastry shops feature a rosco de reyes, a king's crown, a cake in the shape of a ring, with something like brioche dough and candied fruits all around it. As you might imagine, the best rosco is to be found at Bombon, on 18th Street in Pilsen. This year, though, I was in too much of a hurry to go that far south, and bought a very serviceable rosco at Panaderia Ayutla at Clark Street and Morse. For $16, it was definitely king size, but also quite light and moist with lots of fruit. (We also pour a few teaspoons of rum on each slice to add to the pleasure; the dough soaks it up beautifully.)
We also ordered the French version of king's cake -- "galette des rois" or king's pancake --- at Sweet Thang, just east of Damen and Milwaukee on North Avenue. (I was told you can order these any time of year, if you have an out of season craving.) This is a flaky pastry which can be eaten plain in France, but in Chicago is invariably stuffed with almond paste.
Both of these cakes are one of the pleasures of the Christmas season.

Joseph's Marketplace in Crystal Lake also carried rosco de reyes this year. A large cake was $16 while a small was $8. They were selling like crazy on Friday although many people had NO idea as to what they were.

If there had been any small ones left, I would have bought one.

Then again, some of us celebrated January 6th with buttered scones, cocaine and a close examination of Trinchinopoly ashes and the degree to which parsley sinks into butter on a warm day.

Certainly explains why Swedish Bakery had King's cakes out this weekend. I thought those were only for Mardis Gras and thought them a bit early.