AUSTIN, Texas — For some, the Christmas holidays are over. But in Mexico, the celebration continues through Saturday, Jan. 6. That's Día de Los Reyes, also known as Three Kings Day or Epiphany.
To celebrate, families eat a Rosca de Reyes or King Cake. The tradition of eating the decorated bread 12 days after Christmas is based in Christianity, marking the day when Christians believe the Three Wise Men followed the star to Bethlehem and arrived with gifts for baby Jesus. Children also open up more gifts on this day.
KVUE visited Mi Tradicion Bakery off Research Boulevard to try one of their rosca de reyes. The owner said the staff starts putting in orders with suppliers from Mexico in June. Trucks are coming in nonstop with deliveries and once they have all the ingredients, the real work begins.
"It's a process. We make everything from scratch. We use tons of eggs, tons of flour and every little thing. The flavors, the candies on top has meaning, a significance," said Chuy Guevara, owner of Mi Tradicion.
The bakers also place a plastic baby into the bread. If you get the baby in your slice, you have to throw a party and cook tamales for everyone on Feb. 2.
Mi Tradicion is open from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day. They'll be exceptionally busy over the weekend making thousands of roscas de reyes.