Bolo Rei, roscón de reyes portuguese. Christmas recipe
Every 5th and 6th of January in our country it is traditional to enjoy a portion of the roscón de Reyes, that wonderful and exquisite round shaped bun that is made with sweet dough and garnished with slices of candied fruit, sugar and rolled almonds. In addition, it is common to place inside a "surprise" and a bean, so that as the tradition tells, whoever has the latter must pay.
The truth is that it is a popular sweet of which there is in fact a lot of tradition. What's more, in the original sweet it was customary that whoever found the bean was namedKing of Kings during a short period of time, while back in 1361 the usual thing was to designate 'King of the Faba' to that child who found the bean in the dessert. 
Although it is a typical Christmas candy that is usually associated with Christmas and tradition in Spain, the reality is that we have a delicious dessert that is also made and enjoyed in other countries around.
It is the case of France, where there is a sweet cake or roscón known by the name ofgâteau de la fève, also called Couronne des Rois, which is extremely identical to the roscón that is consumed in our country. We must also mention on this occasion the existence of the Galette des Rois, characteristic of the north of France, which unlike the traditional roscón is made with puff pastry.
In Portugal we also find a very similar sweet. In the Portuguese kitchen, however, it is popularly known by the name of Bolo Rei, and although it is not specifically the same in terms of the ingredients used in its elaboration, the reality is that the custom itself is quite similar to the Roscón de Reyes that is consumed in Spain.
What is the Bolo Rei and what is its history?
The truth is that the Bolo Rei It becomes a wonderful classic of Christmas that is celebrated in Portugal, being very common its consumption during the Christmas holidays lusas. About its origin yes that there is a greater certainty, compared to the traditional roscón de Reyes Spanish.
And it is that, apparently, was originally developed and sold for the first time in 1869, in a confectionery called National of Lisbon. A short time later, back in 1890, he officially arrived in Porto where he began to prepare and bake following the steps of a recipe brought from Paris.
Just in 1910, after the proclamation of the Republic, some pastry chefs decided to call it Pastei de Navidad in order to continue elaborating it for the Christmas holidays and not to disappear, until finally it was renamed as always.
What is your difference with the Roscón de Reyes?
Although both its preparation and most of the ingredients are quite similar to the popular Spanish roscón de Reyes, the truth is that there are certain differences that make it really two different typical candies.
In the case of the Bolo Rei is a sweet in which the dough also carries raisins and dried fruits, question that precisely does not happen with the Roscón de Reyes. Further, It is common to use port wine to aromatize it, instead of the traditional essence of orange blossom. 
Recipe Bolo Rei
It will take you to prepare the bollo rei around 3 hours, and to bake it in total about 45 minutes.
Ingredients for the dough:
- 500 gr of strength flour
- 20 gr of pressed yeast
- 175 gr of sugar
- 3 eggs
- 50 gr of nuts (pine nuts and walnuts)
- 50 gr of raisins
- 50 ml of milk
- 1 tablespoon of rum
- 2 tablespoons of port wine
- Laminated almonds
Ingredients to decorate:
- 100 gr of candied fruit
- Laminated almonds and pine nuts (to taste)
- Sugar
- Water
How to make the Bolo Rei:
- First of all we are going to prepare a kind of sponge, which will help the yeast to act more quickly and improve the fermentation in turn. To do this put the milk in a saucepan and heat a little until it is warm. Dilute the yeast in the warm milk first, and then do the same with 70 grams of the flour (sieved). Knead well until you form a ball. Put warm water in a bowl and put the dough ball in it until it floats.
- Meanwhile, in another large bowl put the sugar and eggs. Grate an orange and reserve its grated skin. Beat everything well with the help of electric rods until a frothy, white cream forms. Add the orange zest, the port wine and the rum in the amounts indicated, and continue beating until everything is well mixed.
- In another large bowl, sift the rest of the flour and add it to the previous mixture of eggs and sugar, little by little. Start kneading the dough until it absorbs all the liquid. Reservation.
- We have not forgotten about the sponge. Now it's just time to take it out of the water and drain it very well.
- When the mass of flour and eggs has reached a certain consistency, it is time to add the sponge little by little while continuing to knead. This will integrate better into the mass.
- With the butter in ointment add it to the dough and continue kneading until the dough is peeled off the walls.
- Now incorporate the raisins, pine nuts and nuts and knead again a little, this way you will get these wonderful ingredients are distributed better throughout the mass.
- Grease a bowl and form a ball with the dough. Put the ball in this bowl lightly greased, cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled its volume.
- When you notice that the dough has doubled its volume, remove the cloth and knead again, to degas the dough.
- Form a ball with the dough and give it a roscón shape. You can help your fingers, introducing them in the center of the dough until you make a hole. Now is the time to introduce the dry bean and any surprise that you like.
- Place the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet. Place a glass that holds the heat of the oven in the center to not lose shape. Cover with a cloth and let it rise again until it doubles its volume. When you lightly press the dough with your finger and recover its shape it will be ready.
- Paint the rei bolus with egg yolk and decorate it with the candied fruit, the rolled almonds and the pine nuts. Also put a few drops of water in the sugar to moisten it and put the sugar moistened over the bolus.
- Bake at 180ºC for 40-45 minutes. When ready, let cool on a rack.
