King cake recipe by Eva Arguiñano to celebrate such a special day

Ingredients (6-8 p.):

• 2 round sheets of puff pastry
• 1 egg
• Mint leaves

For the filling:

• 250 ml of milk
• 90g of sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 2 egg yolks
• 20 g of refined cornmeal
• 100 g ground almonds
• 20g butter

Elaboration

Mix the refined cornmeal and sugar in a bowl. Pour half of the milk and mix again until you get a porridge. Cut the vanilla bean in half (lengthwise), scrape out the inside, and add the seeds to the bowl. Also add the egg yolks and the rest of the milk. Stir the ingredients until you get a homogeneous cream.

Put the mixture to heat and cook the ingredients over low-medium heat (without stopping stirring) until it boils. Remove the casserole from the heat, add the butter, transfer the cream to a bowl, cover it (skin) with kitchen film and wait for it to cool. reserve it

Unscrew the puff pastry sheets (on the parchment paper they come with) and spread them out on the counter. With the help of a plate, cut 2 circles (one from each puff pastry sheet), one slightly larger than the other).

Brush the large one with beaten egg. Score it lightly so you have about 8 servings. Taking advantage of the marks, draw 4 flower petals and 4 spikes. Place the puff pastry on a large plate, cover it with kitchen film and put it in the fridge until it cools down a bit (15 minutes).

Add the ground almond to the cream and mix well.

Spread the outline of the base (the smallest circle of puff pastry) with beaten egg. Then spread the cream on top (without touching the part painted with the egg) and cover it with the largest circle and press the edges a little so that they are well sealed. Drill holes at the top for a chimney.

Heat the oven to 180ºC, insert the cake and bake it for 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven, let it cool down, garnish it with some mint leaves and serve.

Tips:

• 1) The holes are made in the upper part, as in empanadas, so that during baking, the dough will release the steam.

• 2) The cake of Kings can be served warm or cold, as you like. It is delicious if you accompany it with cream, sour cream or hot chocolate.