Fun Christmas baking: the Portuguese Bolo Rei

 The holiday season is here and one of the highlights is spending time with friends and flatmates to bake & enjoy some Christmas treats. Add a little warmth to the cold weather with this traditional recipe for the Portuguese Bolo Rei. This quick and simple cake recipe will be sure to make your holiday merrier!

Ingredients

Sugar 150g

Flour 750g

Dried yeast 30g

Mixed crystallised fruit 175g

Mix of dried fruit 250g

Orange zest 1 tbsp – or more if you like!

Lemon zest 1 tbsp

Margarine 150g

Salt 1 tsp

5 medium eggs

Port wine 100ml

Icing sugar 50g

1 dried broad bean

Nuts – if you like!

Preparation

Step 1: Chop the crystallised fruit and the dried fruit, taking care to leave some aside to decorate the cake. Mix them together with the port wine & leave to macerate.

Step 2: Dissolve the dried yeast in 100ml of warm water. Add a cup of flour, mix well, cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Beat the margarine with the sugar, lemon and orange zest, add the eggs, beating one by one, and the yeast mixture.

Step 4: When everything is well combined, add the remaining flour and the salt, kneading until the mixture is elastic and smooth. Add the fruit mixture and knead again until distributed evenly.

Step 5: Shape the dough into a ball, sprinkle with flour and cover with a cloth, leaving it to rise for 3 hours or until doubled in volume.

Step 6: Place the dough on a baking tray and make a hole in the middle.

Step 7: Add the port wine to the dough and wrap in parchment paper with a bean, leaving it to rise for 1 hour more. Preheat the oven to 180 ºC.

Step 8: Brush the cake with the beaten egg yolk and decorate with the remaining candied fruit and nuts

Step 9: Spread the icing sugar over the cake and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

Step 10: Remove the cake from the tin, allow to cool, then slice and share with your friends. Bom apetite!