Canarian Recipes: Rosca de la Candelaria
The Rosca de la Candelaria is a simple and aromatic sweet bread, typically featuring a boiled egg embedded in the centre as a symbol of fertility, life, and renewal. February 2nd is Candlemas Day where ring-shaped cakes or pastries are made, which children take to church in baskets with rosemary branches to be blessed.
Ingredients for cookies
(Serves 4–6)
- 125 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of aniseed
- 20g fresh baker’s yeast / 8g dried baker’s yeast
- 250 ml of lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 egg
- 600g of strong flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- Colored aniseed candies or balls
- Sugar
Method
- We put the aniseed in the oil
- In a container we put the yeast, the honey, the water, the egg a little beaten, the oil with the aniseed.
- We mix everything with a whisk.
- Add the flour and salt, mix and knead.
- We pour the dough onto the work surface
- We divide the dough into portions of about 60 g.
- We roll each portion into a ball.
- We place them on a baking tray, wet our hands with extra virgin olive oil and with our finger open a hole in the center.
- We flatten them with the palm of our hand and add the candies or aniseed balls.
- We sprinkle sugar on top and let them rest for another half hour or an hour, until they rise again.
- Later. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Once it’s hot, put the cakes in.
- Depending on the size, they’ll take between 20 and 30 minutes.
- We put them on a wire rack to cool and they’re ready for a snack.