Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Disneyland Resorts gave me a park hopper for the day to aid this post. All opinions and thoughts are 100% my own!

The final days of Christmas are almost here. Jan. 6th marks Three Kings Day, and it wouldn’t be complete without a Disney celebration. From Jan. 2nd to Jan. 6th Disney’s California Adventure is celebrating Dia De Los Reyes in a whole new way. DCA is providing guests with a culturally rich experience through Viva Navidad! Now is your last chance to experience the magic of Three Kings Day ala (more…)

Growing up we were never allowed to take down any of the Christmas decorations until Three Kings Day/Dia De Los Reyes (January 6th)… the tail end of the 12 days of Christmas. My grandfather would tell us we had to wait for the Three Kings to arrive bearing gifts. I would look forward to the day by placing my shoes outside my front door to be filled with a gift, and in the evening we would cut into the rosca.  This year will be no different in the fact that the decorations will stay up till Jan.6th, I will make a rosca de reyes with a few toy babies in the middle, and call a few friends over to celebrate Dia de Los Reyes with me and my family. Usually the highlight of the evening is cutting the rosca to see who gets the baby (who ever gets a baby in their slice of rosca has to make a tamale dinner on Feb. 2nd for the group), but it can’t fully be enjoyed without a cup of hot chocolate. Chocolate caliente hecho con agua is my ideal type of hot chocolate. It is made with a water base that really allows you to fully taste the divine Mexican chocolate, and at the very end milk is added, but not a lot in comparison to the water. It’s really special and should be made anytime a cold day drops it’s temperatures down and you want warm comfort in a cup.

I decided this Three Kings Day I am going to go simple and make it easy on myself by just serving this chocolate and rosca.  I made this recipe really easy for you too….. watch the video below to see exactly how to make it.

Ingredients for chocolate caliente hecho con agua:

• 7 – cups water
• 2 – cinnamon sticks
• 1 – teaspoon vanilla
• 3 – Mexican chocolate tablets (I used Abuelita)
• 2 – cans evaporated milk

Remember a post I wrote a few weeks ago telling you about Viva Navidad at Disney’s California Adventure?  Well, I was there again yesterday celebrating the finale’ of Viva Navidad with Three Kings Day / Dia De Los Reyes. This fantastic celebration is only happening for a few more days until Jan.6th to be exact.

I am so thrilled that all the traditional richness of Latin holiday culture is being celebrated on such a grand scale at Disney’s California Adventure and I was lucky enough to not only attend, but to interview Chef Toby J. Hollis and learn his way of making pozole. The very pozole that they are now serving in the park for Dia De Los Reyes!

If you have some free time in the next couple of days head down to Disney’s California Adventure and make your way to Paradise Garden where you will find pozole, bunuelos, rosca de reyes, and other great authentic Mexican food.

Watch the video below of Chef Toby showing me the ropes of his pozole, and hop over to Babble for a pozole recipe and other foods to eat during Dia De Los Reyes!

Christmas is long gone but Dia De Los Reyes is just around the corner. Typically children in Latin America and Spain celebrate the Three Kings on January 6th, which marks the 12 days of Christmas. It is believed that three kings came on the 12th day by guidance of the north star and found baby Jesus along with his parents in Bethleham.  The kings bestowed gifts on the new born king, and during the celebration of three kings day on Jan. 6th gifts are exchanged and it is a serious celebration had by all. People also either make or buy a rosca de reyes (Three Kings bread), and it has little toy babies baked inside it (usually between 1 – 3 babies per rosca, depending on who is making it). Enjoying the rosca becomes a big event where a group of people gather to eat it, and if your slice has a toy baby in it, then you are appointed to provide a tamale dinner for the people at the rosca gathering on Feb. 2nd for Dia De La Candelaria. It sounds complicated, but it’s sort of like a game… The rules: if you find a baby in your bread you make a tamale dinner on Feb. 2nd for the group of people at the gathering.

Get all your supplies to make your own Rosca De Reyes at Walmart….  and if you think you’ll get the toy baby, stock up on your tamale supplies there too.

Ingredients for Rosca De Reyes:

• 1/2 – cup water
• 4 – anise stars
• 1 – packet yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 – cup milk
• 1/3 – cup sugar
• 4 – tablespoons butter
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 – eggs
• 3 3/4 – cups flour
• 1/2 – cup dried cherries or craisins

Egg Wash:

• 1 – egg
• 1 – tablespoon water

Pasta Topping:

• 2/3 – cup sugar
• 1 – stick butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 – cup flour

Optional:

• dried fruit or paste
• toy babies

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add in water and anise stars. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from flame and cool for 20 minutes. Remove anise stars and pour water into a bowl, it should measure out to 1/3 cup.
2. Pour yeast into the warm anise water bowl and set to the side for a minimum of 5 minutes. the yeast will start to foam.
3. In a small sauce pan over a medium-low flame add in milk, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir to combine and melt. 
4. As soon as the ingredients come together allow to cool for about 5 minutes then add in the yeast/anise water. Mix well. Set to the side.
5. In a separate bowl beat the eggs.
6. Fill a large bowl with flour and cherries, then pour in the sugar/milk/yeast mixture and the eggs. Mix with your hands till the dough comes together.  
7. Then on a lightly floured surface knead bread, and make into a round loaf. 
8. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest in a warm place for a minimum of on hour or overnight or until loaf doubles in size. 
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
10. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out with your hands into a long snake. 
11. Make a little slit on top of the bread and insert baby. 
12. Then form the dough into an oval shaped ring binding the ends together. 
13. Make the egg wash: In a small bowl whisk egg and water together. Then brush the top of the ring with the egg wash. 
14. Make the pasta: In a mixer beat sugar and butter until fluffy and light, then add in flour. Mix till combined. It will feel like thick paste, and be slightly crumbly. Gather the mixture and place on a surface and roll out with a rolling pin. Traditionally people cut pasta into thick strips, I decided to cut mine into stars to represent the stars the three kings followed. 🙂 
15. Place rosca on a baking mat on top of a cookie sheet, then pasta shapes and dried fruits onto rosca/ring and bake for 25 minutes. 
16. Cut and enjoy with hot chocolate.