How to Make an Epiphany Cake

What constitutes an Epiphany cake depends a lot on where you find yourself at the Epiphany season (January 6). In Europe, a heavy cake is usually baked. In England and America, the cake is lighter and more like a traditional birthday cake. Even the item hidden inside for a lucky guest to find varies from a tiny figure of the baby Jesus to a coin or a dried bean.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsps. vanilla
• 3 tsps. baking powder
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 cup white flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk

Make An Epiphany Cake

1. Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Mix in shortening and 3/4 cup of the milk with an electric mixer on medium speed until moistened.
3. Add the rest of the milk and the vanilla and beat for two minutes. Gently stir in the bean or other token by hand.
4. Pour into two greased, floured 8-inch cake pans (the bean is too easy to find in a sheet cake).
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes.
6. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pans. Spread the Epiphany cake with your choice of icing.
7. Press pieces of colorful dried fruit into the frosting as the "jewels" for the king's "crown."
8. Use a good quality cake mix and stir the token in by hand for a faster, easier dessert.

Make An Epiphany Cake with an Angel Food Cake

9. Take a plain, bakery-made angel food cake and cut a small square out of it about a 1/4- to 1/2-inch deep. Make the cut in the center ring, rather than the outside, to make it less visible.
10. Insert the bean or token into the space and replace the square of cake over it.
11. Repeat with other tokens if you have them. Keep the items widely separated.
12. Cover the squares with frosting as you ice the cake.

Tips & Warnings

• The single bean or other token that is placed in the cake determines who is crowned king or queen of the Epiphany party. In some traditions, the person who finds it may choose a counterpart, that is the king chooses a queen or vice versa. In others, the king must be granted a wish.
• Don't forget party crowns for your king and queen. Some "Christmas crackers," little cylinders that pop open with a loud noise, have paper crowns inside.
• Be sure to tell people in advance about the hidden object so that no one swallows it.