Mexicans bake 720-metre-long holiday cake

Jan 3, 2010, 23:28 GMT

Mexico City - Bakers in Mexico City on Sunday assembled a 720-metre, 10-ton traditional Three Kings cake in the capital's main square.

Mexican officials said it was the largest ever Rosca de Reyes, a traditional cake to celebrate Epiphany, or Three Kings Day.

The effort to set a Guinness world record also corresponds to Mexico's kick-off of celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain and 100 years since the Mexican revolution.

The giant cake was assembled outside Mexico City's cathedral and national palace. Bakers put together pieces ranging from 45 centimetres to 65 metres long and more than a metre wide.

Some 7,568 kilogrammes of flour, 56,880 eggs and 3,700 kilogrammes of butter were used to make the cake, which organizers estimate contains 254,000 portions.

The Rosca de Reyes is normally a dry cake in the shape of a wreath eaten on Three Kings Day, which marks the arrival of the Three Kings to visit the baby Jesus in Christian tradition. A small figure of the baby Jesus is hidden inside the dough and under Mexican tradition the person who finds the figure must pay for the meal on the February 2 feast marking the presentation of Jesus at the temple.