As promised here is a King Cake Recipe. I like King Cake as a breakfast sweet rather than a dessert after a meal. The cake is more like a brioche or kind of like a group cinnamon roll. That being said, it is of course appropriate to serve it as dessert. Regardless of when you get to celebrate I hope you enjoy this treat. As for the trinket inside the cake—it is most often a bean or a baby. I will share the history and etiquette of “winning” the trinket in my next blog.
INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar
About 4 cups of flour more for rolling and rising as needed
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup warm milk
5 large egg yolks
10 Tablespoons butter, cut in slices and softened
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 Tablespoon of milk added
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1-inch plastic doll or bean (optional)
Cream Cheese Filling (optional):
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
Cream all the above ingredients together with a mixer if you need to thin the cream cheese mixture add milk slowly during the mixing.
Poured Icing:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 – 6 Tablespoons water
Colored Sugars:
Green, purple and yellow food coloring paste
12 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Divide sugar into three 4-Tablespoon portions (for green, yellow and purple)
Add a tiny amount of the coloring paste to each sugar portion. Set aside.
Cake & Optional Filling Directions:
Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for several minutes, and then mix thoroughly. Set yeast mixture in a warm place for 10 minutes. Combine 3 and 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl.
Stir in lemon zest. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and using a wooden spoon, combine dry ingredients into the yeast and milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to beat 2 minutes or until dough can be formed into a medium soft ball.
Place ball of dough on floured surface and knead, gradually adding 1/2 to 1 cup more of flour. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic.
Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl with a heavier kitchen towel and allow dough to rise in a warm place for about 1 and 1/2 hours or until it doubles in volume.
Coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside. After the first rising, place the dough on a floured surface and punch it down. If you are adding the cream cheese filling now is the time to spread it on the dough. If the mixture is too thick add a bit of milk to thin it. Sprinkle cinnamon, then pat and shape the dough into a long ’snake’ or ‘cylinder’. Form a twist by folding the long cylinder in half, end to end, and pinching the ends together. Then twist the dough. Form a ring with the completed twist and pinch the ends together.
Place the completed ring on the buttered baking sheet, cover it with a towel and allow it to rise for 45 minutes or until it doubles in volume. After the second rising, brush the top and sides of the cake with the egg and milk wash. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Press the plastic baby inside the cake.
Icing & Colored Sugar Topping Directions:
Mix confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl. Add water as necessary to make icing thick but pourable. Pour icing over cooled cake. Sprinkle colored sugar on cake alternating colors every 2-3 inches.
To serve cake cut in multi-color 3 inch servings.
Enjoy the cake. Enjoy Mardi Gras. Love the party.
I hope a good baker wins the baby!
Cheers,
Tricia
