World’s Best Chef Dabiz Muñoz Reinvents Traditional Roscón de Reyes

Tis the season around the world, and if you're in Spain, you're preparing your palate to enjoy a delicious roscón de Reyes.

This year, everyone's talking about a roscón from the person named World's Best Chef for the third year in a row: Dabiz Muñoz. The brains behind Michelin-star restaurant diverXO; multiple eateries like StreetXO; and countless delicious culinary inventions, the chef has decided to reinvent roscón with a unique recipe. 

It's called Rosconut and, as David explains, it's a mix between a roscón and a donut, specifically for those consumers looking for something a little bit different this year. 

It's made with a brioche dough, pink chocolate fondant, rosewater, lime, and coconut. He also uses chocolate-covered cereal and Peta Zetas, Spain's version of Pop Rocks. The filling is made from raspberry-flavored pink chocolate chantilly cream and dark chocolate stracciatella.

Dabiz is not the only one to make original roscones. Jordi Roca (El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, 3 Michelin stars) made one for Christmas 2020 based on less common ingredients such as tangerine zest, candied yuzu and granulated almonds. Another Michelin star chef who has experimented with the traditional recipe is Carlos Maldonado, who created one with a coating based on Ruby cocoa, freeze-dried raspberry and mango, white chocolate and dark chocolate.

The traditional recipe

Consumers who prefer their usual roscón de Reyes will be buying their traditional round cake, with a dough similar to a brioche flavored with orange flower water, commonly decorated with candied fruit and sugar and often times filled with sweet whipped cream or chocolate cream. Unsurprisingly, the traditional roscón de Reyes looks like a jeweled crown.

It’s generally eaten on Three Kings Day, which is celebrated in Spain on January 6^th, and usually contains a small plastic bean and a tiny figurine of a king. The person who finds the bean in their cake must pay for the cake the following year, while the person who finds the king gets to wear the paper crown that comes with the cake.

Many people buy their roscón at the bakery, though it can also be made at home. The cake contains flour, yeast, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, lemon or orange zest and the already mentioned orange flower water.