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Bolo Rei (literally, "King Cake") is a traditional Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 cake
Cake

Cake is a form of food that is usually sweet and often Baking. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetener , a binding agent , fats , a liquid , flavoring and some form of leavening agent , though many cakes lack these ingredients and instead rely on air bubbles in the dough to expand and cause the cake to rise....
, which is usually eaten around Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
, from December 25 until the Dia dos Reis (literally "Day of Kings", a reference to the three kings
Biblical Magi

In Christianity tradition the Magi , Three Wise Men, Three Kings or Kings from the East are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts....
) on January 6th. The cake itself is round with a large hole in the centre, resembling a crown
Crown (headgear)

A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents Political power, legitimacy, Crown of Immortality, righteousness, victory, Roman triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death....
 covered with crystallized and dried fruit
Dried fruit

Dried fruitis fruit that has been drying , either naturally or through use of a machine, such as a food dehydrator. Raisins, prunes, and Date palm are examples of popular dried fruits....
.

The Bolo Rei is baked from a soft, white dough, with raisin
Raisin

Raisins are Dried fruit grapes. They are created in many regions of the world, such as the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Republic of Macedonia, Mexico, Greece, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Togo, and Jamaica, as well as South Africa and Southern Europe and Eastern Europe....
s, various nuts
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
, and crystallized fruit
Candied fruit

Candied fruit or Glac? fruit, also known as crystallised fruit, has been around since the 14th century. Whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel , are placed in heated sugar syrup thereby absorbing the moisture from within the fruit and eventually Food preservation it....
.






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Bolo Rei (literally, "King Cake") is a traditional Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 cake
Cake

Cake is a form of food that is usually sweet and often Baking. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetener , a binding agent , fats , a liquid , flavoring and some form of leavening agent , though many cakes lack these ingredients and instead rely on air bubbles in the dough to expand and cause the cake to rise....
, which is usually eaten around Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
, from December 25 until the Dia dos Reis (literally "Day of Kings", a reference to the three kings
Biblical Magi

In Christianity tradition the Magi , Three Wise Men, Three Kings or Kings from the East are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts....
) on January 6th. The cake itself is round with a large hole in the centre, resembling a crown
Crown (headgear)

A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents Political power, legitimacy, Crown of Immortality, righteousness, victory, Roman triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death....
 covered with crystallized and dried fruit
Dried fruit

Dried fruitis fruit that has been drying , either naturally or through use of a machine, such as a food dehydrator. Raisins, prunes, and Date palm are examples of popular dried fruits....
.

The Bolo Rei is baked from a soft, white dough, with raisin
Raisin

Raisins are Dried fruit grapes. They are created in many regions of the world, such as the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Republic of Macedonia, Mexico, Greece, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Togo, and Jamaica, as well as South Africa and Southern Europe and Eastern Europe....
s, various nuts
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
, and crystallized fruit
Candied fruit

Candied fruit or Glac? fruit, also known as crystallised fruit, has been around since the 14th century. Whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel , are placed in heated sugar syrup thereby absorbing the moisture from within the fruit and eventually Food preservation it....
. Also included is the characteristic "fava
Vicia faba

Vicia faba, the Broad Bean, Fava Bean, Faba Bean, Field Bean, Bell Bean or Tic Bean is a species of legume native to north Africa and southwest Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere....
", and tradition dictates that whoever finds the fava has to pay for the Bolo Rei next year. Initially, a small prize was also included within the cake. However, the inclusion of the prize (usually a small metal toy) was forbidden by the European Union
European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
, citing safety reasons.

See also

  • King cake
    King cake

    A king cake is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries, and in other places with Mardi Gras and Carnival....
  • Tortell
    Tortell

    Tortell is a Catalan cuisine typically O-shaped pastry stuffed with marzipan, that on some special occasions is topped with glazed fruit. It is traditionally eaten on January 6 , at the conclusion of the Twelve Days of Christmas....