Jovian Mendoza, a baker at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim, stacks Three Kings Bread on a rack after removing them from an oven on Monday, January 5, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Carmen Mendoza waits on long-time customer Cathy Ambriz while Antonio Rodriguez pulls a piping hot Three Kings Bread out of the oven at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim on Monday, January 5, 2026. The traditional sweet yeast bread, containing a small figurine of baby Jesus inside, is eaten on the Epiphany Jan. 6, celebrating the arrival of the kings at Jesus’ birthplace. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Antonio Rodriguez gets ready to box up Three Kings Bread for customers at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim on Monday, January 5, 2026. The store fills hundreds of orders in time for Three Kings Day on Jan. 6. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Carmen Mendoza of Max’s Bakery in Anaheim, boxes up a just-out-of-the-oven Three Kings Bread for long-time customer Cathy Ambriz on Monday, January 5, 2026. The traditional sweet yeast bread, containing a small figurine of baby Jesus inside, is eaten on the Epiphany Jan. 6, which celebrates the arrival of the kings at Jesus’ birthplace. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Carmen Mendoza and her brother-in-law, Jovian Mendoza, show off their Three Kings Bread at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim on Monday, January 5, 2026. The store will fill hundreds of orders in time for Three Kings Day, or the Epiphany, on Jan. 6. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Carmen Mendoza with Max’s Bakery in Anaheim, shows small figurines of baby Jesus that will each be hidden inside a Three Kings Bread. It is eaten on Three Kings Day, also known as the Epiphany, on Jan. 6, celebrating the arrival of the kings at Jesus’ birthplace. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Dozens of Three Kings Bread rotate in an oven at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim on Monday, January 5, 2026. . (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Alma Mendoza, an assistant at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim, looks out from a display case containing the store’s signature Three Kings Bread on Monday, January 5, 2026. The bakery has hundreds of orders for the holiday. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Jovian Mendoza, a baker at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim, stacks Three Kings Bread on a rack after removing them from an oven on Monday, January 5, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Panaderías around Southern California are busy baking Rosca de Reyes or Three Kings Day bread.
On Monday, dozens of the big rounds of bread rotated in the oven at Max’s Bakery in Anaheim. The shop will have filled hundreds of orders for the decorated breads for the Feast of the Epiphany, the Christian holiday on Jan. 6, which honors the biblical story of the three kings or wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmas.
As the bread is prepared, bakers hide small plastic figurines of the baby Jesus inside, signifying Jesus was born as his family was in hiding from King Herod. Finding the figurine in your slice of bread traditionally means you are tasked with hosting a party on Candlemas Day, Feb. 2.
Three Kings Day is commemorated by many Latinos and Catholics by attending Mass, giving gifts to children and breaking the traditional sweet bread.
