Preparation:
– Sourdough starter:
80g milk at room temperature or slightly warm.
20g fresh yeast
50g strong flour
– Kings’ cake dough:
. 500g flour (strong)
. Fat: for the cake to be healthier, I don’t add butter or shortening
150g SANDÚA EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
. Liquid: (130g in total, I distribute it in the following way but you can vary it according to taste):
70g whole milk
20g rum
20g sweet anise
20g orange blossom water
. Other ingredients:
140g sugar
20g honey
2 whole eggs
The zest of an orange and a lemon (only the coloured part, the white part is bitter)
A pinch of salt
– To decorate:
Brush with a beaten egg to glaze and for a shiny crust.
Sugar moistened with a few drops of liquid (water, anise, orange juice, etc. will do).
Complete the rest of the decoration to your taste. Suggestions:
Flaked almonds
Crystallised fruit
Glacé fruit (red and green cherries)
Shelled nuts (chopped)
Toasted hazelnuts (chopped)
Pine nuts
Raisins
Preparation:
First prepare the sourdough: in a bowl add the warm milk (just take it out of the fridge, it shouldn’t be too warm), add the yeast, whisk, add the flour and whisk until mixed.
Cover and wait for approximately 30 minutes/an hour (this should be enough time but you can also leave it overnight). You will see bubbles forming and the mixture will begin to rise.
While the sourdough is rising, prepare the rest of the ingredients:
Peel the orange and the lemon: it’s best to use a potato peeler. Only peel the coloured part of the fruit. Set aside.
Add the following liquids to a glass:
Milk, rum, anise, orange blossom water (they must total 130g) and 20g of honey.
In another glass measure out the SANDÚA EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL.
With all of this prepared you can start:
Weigh out the sugar and process (5-7-9) in a Thermomix food mixer.
Now add the orange and lemon zest and again: 5-7-9
Now add the glass you prepared with the liquids and add the glass of oil. Programme for 2 minutes, speed setting 4, 40º.
Add the two eggs and starter dough. Mix on speed setting 4 for a few seconds.
Weigh out the flour: 500g, and add to the bowl: mix for a few seconds on speed 6 and then programme the dough to be kneaded for 5 minutes on the hook speed setting.
Cover the dough in the bowl and leave to rest until it has doubled in size (about an hour to an hour and a half).
Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface and knead well to remove air bubbles. If necessary, rub your hands with olive oil:
After kneading, form a ball, place it into a bowl and cover with cling film. (I left it on the patio overnight)
The following morning knead it again and shape the cake. It will form a ball which you must then place onto baking paper or a Silpat baking mat. Make a hole in the centre of the ball using your fingers and widen the hole bit by bit until you achieve the desired shape:
Brush with beaten egg. Cover with greased cling film and again wait for it to rise (I left it in the fridge until I got back from work).
Put into an oven preheated to 180ºC for 30 minutes with an ovenproof dish filled with water to steam the oven and hey presto the Kings’ cake is done.
