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Published Friday, December 4, 2020
Tropical Christmas king cake
By Melissa Pette
Christmas and New Year's Eve are just around the corner. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who is counting the seconds for this 2020 gets over.
But it is also time to look on the bright side of life and try to be cheerful for our loved ones. So, in this column written by a rookie chef (me), we are going to start celebrating the holidays with a delicious tropical Christmas king cake.
We can't forget, those years when we were children, and those Christmas dinners with that king cake, right there ruling in the center of the table. Well, it's time to make a tropical version of the cake and share it with our social bubble at home.
So, let's go to the kitchen!
Tropical Christmas king cake
For a tasty cake for 8 people, the ingredients you will need are:
• 400 grams of wheat flour.
• 20 grams of baking powder.
• 2 eggs.
• 100 grams of white sugar.
• 1 extra spoon of sugar.
• 70 grams of butter.
• 3 tablespoons white milk.
• 100 milligrams of water.
• 1 spoonful of salt.
• 1 tablespoon of white rum.
• 1 tablespoon of oil (I prefer vegetable but you can use sunflowers or olive).
• 1 tablespoon of orange juice. Or you can use any fruit juice you like more.
• All the dried tropical fruit you want, such as strawberries, mango, papaya, orange, kiwifruit, bananas, or pineapple. Pick up the ones you like more.
First the dough. In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients, such as flour, baking powder, just a pinch of salt and sugar. Mix with a fork. Then add 1 of the eggs and mix all again.
In another bowl, add the liquid ingredients, such as milk, rum, water, oil and orange juice. Mix everything so that the flavors are integrated.
If you like rum a lot, as I do, you can add a little more. Salud!
Add the mixture of liquids into the dough mixture and mix for at least 10 minutes until all the ingredients are blended.
Add the butter and mix again for five more minutes.
If you prefer you can use the blender.
When the dough is ready, imagine soft but not runny plasticine, put the dough on the table. And roll it on the table for 5 more minutes. Then, put the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a top and let it rest for 1.5 hours.
After that time, stretch the dough again, as if you were forming an arm. That's right, one arm without a hand.
Then, in a flat baking pan, put a metal small bowl in the center. I use a silicone medium-size bowl. Very gently put the dough around the bowl. The idea is to form the round cake but making sure that the center doesn't close when it is in the oven.
Wrap the dough with plastic for cooking so that the air doesn't enter and let it nap for approximately 40 minutes.
Then, beat the other egg and with the help of a kitchen brush or a spoon, spread the egg over the dough. Then put the dried fruit on top. Bake for 5 minutes at 300F (or 150C). Then raise the temperature to 375F (or 190C) and bake it for 15 more minutes.
When the cake is cold, sprinkle the last sugar spoon. Calories? Those don't count for Christmas.
You just made the most delicious tropical Christmas king cake ever!
It is impossible to finish this column without thanking readers for taking their time to write. I got photos from some of them with the turkey recipes made at home. I do really appreciate it. That made my day!
Pura Vida and Salud!
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Editor's note: Email your comments or inquiries to Melissa Pette at melissaamcr2017@gmail.com. Do you want to share your recipes with AM Costa Rica readers? Send your homemade recipes with a horizontal photo of the dish to food@amcostarica.com.
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