Recipe by Karen Hursh Graber
Makes 1 loaf
The dough:
8 ½ c. flour
8 eggs
1 ¼ c. sugar
1 ¾ c. butter
1/8 t. cinnamon
1.6 oz. (2 ¾ cakes) compressed yeast
Miniature plastic doll (optional)
The decorative paste:
1 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 egg
1 ¾ c. flour
For decoration:
Candied fruit*
Crumble the yeast cakes into ½ cup warm water (about 85º F.) Mix with all other dough ingredients and beat the batter well until smooth and elastic. On a large baking sheet, shape the dough into a ring, resembling a large wreath. Cover the ring with a clean cloth or towel and let it sit in a warm place for two hours.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350º F. If you’d like to hide the infant in the cake, tuck a miniature plastic doll inside. After the rosca has risen, and before putting it in the oven, prepare the decorative paste by creaming the butter and sugar together, beating in the egg and gradually mixing in the flour. Use this paste to decorate the sweet bread in the form of rays coming out from the center.
Bake until the rosca is golden brown. Decorate with candied fruit.
*In Mexico, candied cactus, called biznaga, is used.