Mardi Gras King Cake- USA #86

The King Cake is a New Orleans tradition that involves a pastry, a small plastic baby, and a party. The King Cake is baked with a small plastic baby hidden inside. The person who gets the slice with the baby in it has to host the next party. This recipe makes 2 rings, which will serve 8-10 people.

Pastry:

1 c. milk
1/4 c. butter

2 pkgs. active dry yeast
2/3 c. warm water
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
5-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 c. packed brown sugar
1 T. ground cinnamon
2/3 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. melted butter

Frosting:

1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 T. water

Pastry: Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 c. of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 T. of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
When yeast mixture bubbles add the cooled milk mixture.
Whisk in the eggs.
Stir in the remaining sugar, salt and nutmeg.
Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture, 1 cup at a time.
When dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
Preheat oven 375F. Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Filling: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 c. raisins.
Pour 1/2 c. melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.
Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (about 10x16).
Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Bake for 30 minutes. Push the doll into the bottom of the cake.
Frosting: while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1-2 T. if water,

Results: I've had King's Cake before. I had forgotten that it is more like a bread consistency than a cake. The tasters said that it was more like a coffeecake than a dessert. They were a bit disappointed. I used a mixer with a dough hook to knead the pastry. It worked just fine. I recommend making more filling than the recipe calls for, maybe even double it. Also, day 2 the cake was dry. I didn't put the plastic baby in the cake. I didn't have one and I didn't want to search for one. Lazy.

A-Z Cakes with Linda

Search This Blog