Driekoningenbrood
4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1/3 cup of milk, warm
1 teaspoon of salt
Zest of one lemon
1 stick of butter, melted
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup of almond paste
Two white beans
One black, red or pinto bean
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
Mix the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and proof, then add to the flour mix. Break pea-sized pieces off the almond paste and add with the egg yolks to the dough. Knead, then add the melted butter. Knead the dough for a good five to eight minutes or until it's smooth and flexible. Set aside in an oiled bowl, covered and let it rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
Carefully punch down the dough and shape into a round. From the bottom, stick the three beans in the dough, each at a fair distance from each other. Place the round dough on a baking sheet or in a round baking pan, cover the dough, rise for 45 minutes or about 2/3s in size.
In the meantime, heat the oven to 375F. When the bread is ready to be baked, cut a star shape in the top of the dough with scissors, to resemble a crown. Bake the bread for about forty minutes or until done. Note that, because of the high sugar content, the bread may brown prematurely and might acquire a bitter taste: tent the bread with aluminum foil during the last ten to fifteen minutes to avoid any burning.
Brush the bread with melted butter when it comes out of the oven, let it cool and dust richly with powdered sugar. Slice in pieces and serve with hot chocolate and coffee: make sure you check to see if you have the dark bean!
If you want to leave the bread whole, you can also cut out a star or crown shape out of paper and dust the bread with powdered sugar after it's cooled.
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