LOS ANGELES — La rosca de reyes, some say it's the sweetest part of Día de Los Reyes Magos or Three Kings Day on Jan. 6. 

For bakers like Jose Bran, the traditional bread has definitely kept him busy. The day before, he had made more than one hundred roscas. 


What You Need To Know

  • Three Kings Day, also known as the Epiphany, takes place on Jan. 6

  • The holiday honors the three wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus after his birth

  • The "rosca de reyes" is a traditional sweet bread eaten on the holiday

  • Inside, there are plastic figurines of babies that symbolize baby Jesus

Bran is a baker at Delicias Bakery & Some in Highland Park, but the bakery has begun offering a vegan rosca de reyes in the last few years. 

He said now that there's a vegan option, more people are able to take part in the tradition.

Emily Sánchez De La Torre's grandparents opened the family-owned bakery in 1991. She's now a manager and said if you taste the vegan version, "you wouldn't notice the difference, we have people say, 'You didn't give us a vegan one,' I say, yes we did." 

But it's not just the rosca de reyes that's vegan. Delicias Bakery & Some has a vegan option for everything inside the traditional Mexican bakery, from sweet bread to bolillos.  

They started serving vegan options because of Sánchez De La Torre's sister. 

"I have a little sister, she's full vegan, she's been a vegan over 20 years now, and she was like, 'You know what Emily? You gotta do something different because I won't eat this. I don't eat this,'" she said. 

That's when they started making vegan options for their traditional Mexican sweet bread.

Sánchez De La Torre said, "a lot of people are surprised, a lot of people are happy that we do it, there are people [who] don't like it and we say just try it, here, take a piece and try it, let us know what you think. A lot of people come back and start buying the vegan stuff." 

 

This year, they expect to sell about 200 vegan rosca de reyes and about 400 regular ones. All of them have the traditional plastic baby figurine hidden inside. 

For Bran, who started baking as a child in Mexico, making vegan options wasn't something he ever expected to do, but he said adding vegan options means more people can enjoy the tastiest part of Three Kings Day.