Recipe: Crown of Epiphany

Name: Couronne des rois
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 535 min
Yield: 8 portions
Ingredients: 310 g de farine30 g de sucre semoule200 g de beurre de bonne qualité fondu et refroidi3 oeufs entiers (+1 jaune pour la dorure)18 g de levure de boulangerie1 zeste de citron non traité émincé très fin1 zeste d'orange non traitée émincé très fin1 cuiller à café de sel fin2 cl d'eau de fleur d'oranger4 cl d'eau2 cl de rhum ambré50 g de sucre en grains(pas obligatoire)150 g de fruits confits hachés (75 g légèrement farinés + 75 g en déco)

By chef patrick ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.8/5 (72 reviews) Desserts

Prep 20 min

Cook 35 min

Rest 8h

Total 8h55

Servings 8 serv.

Cette couronne briochée est souvent servie dans le Sud et le Sud Ouest de la France au moment de l'épiphanie. Elle est habituellement garnie de fruits confits ou de gros grains de sucre

Ingredients for 8 servings

This kind of brioche, made in the shape of a crown and traditionally garnished with candied fruits or candy sugar, is often served the day of the Epiphany in the south of France.
Crown of Epiphany recipe for 6 to 8 people:
310g strong flour
30g caster sugar
200g butter, melted and cooled down
1tsp table salt
3 eggs
1 egg yolk

zest of an orange finely slicedzest of a lemon finely sliced

2cl orange blossom water
4cl water
18g fresh yeast
2cl dark rum
150g mixed peels (75g slightly floured+75g for garnish)
optional: 50g candy sugar

Step-by-step directions

This will not happen often but for this recipe I advise you to use a mechanical mixing bowl to realize this brioche recipe. Although the recipe can be made by hand, an excellent final result will be guaranteed in this way.

1- In the bowl of your food processor or a in a "normal" bowl, place the salt, sugar, rum, orange blossom water, water and the zest and set it to mix slowly for a minute or two then add the flour and yeast. Next, start adding the eggs one by one and raise the speed of your machine up slightly. Allow to mix at that speed for 10 minutes.

Add the butter little by little and finally the 75g of mixed peels that are lightly floured.

2- Clear your dough into a bowl, cover it with a clean cloth and place in a warm place to rise for 2 hours.

3- Break (lift the dough until it has collapsed) your dough by hand. Put it back in your bowl, cover and put it in the fridge for 4 hours.

4- Break the dough a second time and place it on a well floured surface. Gather the dough into a ball. Then, punch a hole in the middle with a finger and start stretching that hole until the dough makes a nice ring. Then place a dry broad bean*, randomly into the ring.

5- Carefully, put your ring onto a lined baking tray and allow to improve for another 1h30.

6- Start your oven 190'C (374'F)

7- Make an egg wash with the egg yolk and some water and coat your crown. Optional: sprinkle your candy sugar at this point.

8- Bake for 30 minutes. Then, take your brioche out and spoon the rest of the mixed peels on the top of it. Put back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

* The broad bean is a French tradition on the day of Epiphany. The person who gets the broad bean hidden into the brioche is crowned king, in reference to the three kings of the bible.

This recipe is not that difficult, but very time consuming as all the improving times have to be respected in accord to get a perfect final result.

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