Cake for Breakfast

There is one day a year that we eat cake for breakfast, and that is the Three Kings' Day.

The day of the Three Kings is celebrated on January 6th. It is called Dia de los Reyes in Spanish, Epiphany in English. Many countries have the custom of eating a special cake on this day, a cake with a toy prize baked inside. If you get the slice with the prize, you are the winner for the whole year.

Well, in Spain you eat this cake after lunch on the day of Epiphany, but since we usually have school and work on January 6 here in the States, because it is not a holiday here, we decided that our family was going to have cake for breakfast. So there you have it! Mama makes a cake that looks as much like a Roscon de Reyes as she can manage -- usually it is a spice cake with lots of raisins and currants and dried cherries, but sometimes it is a carrot cake, and irish soda bread works nicely too. The cake gets smothered with cream, and we eat it for breakfast!

Typically there is a winner, but because I am always afraid that some one will swallow a little treat that is baked into the bread, I don't do that, and we are all winners!

Sometimes we eat pancakes for dinner, but that is another story.

Check out the Make Your Own King Cake event:

I am submitting my irish soda bread version as our very own king cake to this event. The soda bread recipe is from the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. I love the Silver Palate Cookbooks, although they are getting a little old. I still think they're the best. They're what I learned to cook with!

GRANDMA CLARK'S SODA BREAD

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (currants, raisins, cherries, apricots)
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs; well beaten
2 tbsp sweet butter, melted


Coat a 9- or 10-inch cake pan with cooking spray (or you can use a cast iron skillet). Line the pan with a circle of waxed paper cut to fit.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together. Add currants and toss well to coat.

Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix till blended, but do NOT overmix.

Spoon batter into the prepared skillet or cake pan and smooth top gently with a spatula. Dot with butter if desired.

Bake until golden brown and puffed. It should take about 50-55 minutes of baking time. It's done if a toothpick or thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Cut in half, and spread whipped cream over the bottom half, thickly! Place top back on and serve, slicing into wedges at the table.