King Cake - Traditional New Orleans Recipe

King Cake - Traditional New Orleans Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups flour unsifted
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter
• 1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1" plastic baby doll

Directions

Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place, for ten minutes or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles up in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Seperate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and using a wooden spoon slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/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 a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. During this kneading, add up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) sprinkled over the dough. 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 moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using you fist, punch dough down with a heavy blow. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft free spot for 45 minutes until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, at this time, you can "hide" the plastic baby in the cake.

Colored sugars

• Green, purple, & yellow paste
• 12 tablespoons sugar

Squeeze a dot of green paste in palm of hand. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the paste and rub together quickly. Place this mixture on wax paper and wash hands to remove color. Repeat process for other 2 colors. Place aside.

Icing

• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 - 6 tablespoons water

Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow.

Cake is served in 2" - 3" pieces.

As I mentioned in my first article on Mardi Gras being fun for the entire family, here's a traditional recipe for King Cake, with an optional cream cheese filling added!

Optional Cream Cheese Filling:
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 c. confectioners sugar
2 T. flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a few drops of milk
Note - add to directions below: Cream all the filling ingredients together with a mixer and spread onto the rolled-out dough before rolling it into a ring.

King's CakeA cake served for Mardi Gras. The lucky person who finds the pecan or bean in a slice of cake is "king or queen for a day." The cake is shaped in a ring and decorated with tinted green, purple, and yellow food colors, the classic carnival colors.

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus about 1 cup more for kneading

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 cup lukewarm water ( not more than 115 degrees)

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup finely chopped dried fruit

1 pecan half

1 egg, lightly whisked with 1 tablespoon milk

for the decorating sugars, use already colored purple, green, and yellow, or make your own by tinting 3 tablespoons white granulated sugar with a very small quantity of each color of paste food coloring.

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup strained fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons water

2 candied cherries, cut lengthwise into halves

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, nutmeg, salt, yeast, and lemon zest. In another bowl, combine the warm water and egg yolks. Add to flour mixture and blend in the softened butter and chopped fruit. Turn out onto a floured surface, adding more flour as needed. With your hands, knead the mixture about 10 minutes until smooth and satiny. Butter mixing bowl and place the ball of dough in it. Cover. Let rise in a warm draft-free place 1 1/2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a cylinder about 14 inches long. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and then loop the cylinder onto the sheet. Pinch the ends together to form a ring. Press the pecan half gently into the ring so that it is completely hidden. Drape the dough with a cover and set it in a draft-free place to rise for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Just before baking, brush the surface gently with the egg mixture. Bake 30 minutes. Slide the cake onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature. When cool, make the icing by combining the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water to make a smooth icing which you can drizzle over the cake, allowing it to run irregularly down the sides. Sprinkle the colored sugars over the icing immediately, forming rows of purple, yellow, and green strips, each about 2 inches wide on both sides of the cake. Arrange two cherry halves at each end of the cake.

King's Cake
Enjoy this traditional Mardi Gras yeast cake
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Also known as Twelfth Night Cake, the brioche-style King Cake is prepared in New Orleans bakeries for the period between the Twelfth Night (January 6) and Ash Wednesday.
The tradition is thought to have begun with French settlers, continuing a custom dating back to 12th century France, when a similar cake was used to celebrate the coming of the three wise men bearing gifts twelve days after Christmas, calling it the feast of Epiphany, Twelfth Night, or King's Day.
Though the cakes are baked in many shapes now, they were originally round in shape to portray the circular route taken by the Kings to confuse King Herod who was trying to follow the wise men so he could kill the Christ child.
The cakes usually contain a bean, pea, or a figurine symbolizing the baby Jesus. In 1871 the tradition of choosing the queen of the Mardi Gras was determined by who drew the prize in the cake. It is definitely considered good luck to the person who gets the figure, and that person usually holds the next King's Cake party.
The Rex Krewe, a Mardi Gras parade organization, chose the festival's symbolic colors, and since 1872 the colors have been used to tint the cake's icing. The colors are purple (for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power).

Mardi Gras Prize King's Cake

• 1/2 cup Water, (105-115 degrees)
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups Flour (to 4 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg, freshly grated
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Lemon rind, grated
• 1/2 cup Water, lukewarm
• 3 Eggs
• 4 Egg yolks
• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten with
• 1 teaspoon of milk
• 1 figurine or bean
• 3 cups Confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup Lemon juice, strained
• 3 teaspoons Water or more
• Green, purple, and yellow sugars

Soften yeast in water. Combine flour, sugar, nutmeg, salt and lemon rind in a large bowl. Make a well in center. Add yeast mixture, milk, eggs, egg yolks and combine completely. Beat in butter until dough forms a ball. Place on floured board; incorporate more flour if necessary. Knead until smooth and elastic. Stir dough in well buttered bowl and turn so all surfaces are buttered. Cover with a towel and let rise 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Brush baking sheet in butter. Punch down on lightly floured board. Knead, then pat into a 14" cylinder. Place on baking sheet and form into a large ring. Press trinket into dough so that it is hidden. Set aside, covered with a towel, to rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Before baking, brush top with the egg milk mixture. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Beat icing ingredients until smooth. Spread over top of cake, letting drip down sides.

Immediately sprinkle sugars over icing in 2" wide strips of purple, green and yellow stripes. *Colored sugar is sold in baking supply houses. If you can't find it, tint granulated sugar or icing with food coloring.

EASY King Cake RecipE

1 can of cinnamon rolls, with icing

3/4 cup of sugar, separated into 3 parts of 1/4 each

food coloring

SEPARATE THE CINNAMON ROLLS.

ROLL THEM OUT BY HAND TO LOOK LIKE A HOT DOG.

SHAPE THE ROLL INTO AN OVAL.

PINCH THE ENDS TOGETHER AND PLACE ON A COOKIE SHEET.

COOK AS DIRECTED.

USE FOOD COLORING TO DYE SUGAR.

MAKE ONE PART PURPLE BY USING BLUE AND RED DYE, ONE PART GREEN, AND ONE PART GOLD USING YELLOW.

WHEN THEY ROLLS ARE FINISHED COOKING, ICE THE TOPS WITH THE WHITE ICING.

SPRINKLE THE DIFFERENT COLORS OF SUGARS ALTERNATING AS YOU GO AROUND THE OVAL.

Mardi Gras King Cake
Traditional & Bread Machine Version

Note from Cheri:
King Cakes are a huge part of Mardi-Gras traditions throughout the south from Western Louisiana through Eastern Alabama. The cake's origins date back to the Feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, which honors the three kings present at the Christ child's birth. Which is, I assume, where the custom of hiding a tiny baby doll in the cake, started.
In today's Mardi-Gras celebration, tradition calls for the person who gets the "lucky" piece of cake with the baby doll inside, to throw the next party -- or on a simpler note, buy or make the next King Cake. You can pick up the tiny plastic dolls at any cake decorating or novelty supply, just be sure to warn your guests of what to expect as you don't want anyone choking!
The cake, which more closely resembles a rich, sweet bread than cake, is decorated in the traditional Mardi-Gras colors: green, representing faith, gold symbolizing power, and purple denoting justice. Over the years, some folks, myself included, have played with the traditional version to include various fillings. But here's the original, in all its glory, just as it was taught to me as a teenager in Mississippi.
Click on this link for more Mardi Gras recipes, information and ideas.

IMPORTANT: If you're not familiar with making yeast dough, please read our tutorial "How to Make Bread" before getting started. Scroll down the page or follow this link, if you want to make the dough in a bread machine.

Cake
1/2 C warm water (100-115° F)
2 T yeast
1/2 C sugar, plus 2 tsp.
3 1/2 - 4 C flour
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 C warm milk
5 egg yolks
1/2 C butter
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg beaten with 1 T milk, for egg wash
Icing
3 C confectioner's sugar
1/4 C lemon juice
3-6 T water
additional sugar & food coloring for decoration (follow link for tinted sugar directions)
1 tiny 1" baby doll (see notes above)
/
Bread Machine Version
I have made the dough with great success in a Bread Machine. The only difference is, I substitute milk for the water, making the liquid total 1 cup milk.
Just put the ingredients in the machine, as per manufacturer instructions, set it to the dough setting, and in a few hours you're ready to pick up the instructions from the rolling out point.
Sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar over warm water in a small, shallow bowl. Allow to rest for 3-5 minutes, then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm, draft-free place until yeast starts to bubble up and mixture almost doubles in volume, about 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, mix 3 1/2 C flour, 1/2 cup sugar, nutmeg, lemon zest and salt. In mixing bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer or food processor, combine yeast , milk and egg yolks. Gradually add dry ingredients, and softened butter, adding additional flour, as necessary to achieve a medium-soft ball. Knead dough, again adding flour if necessary, until smooth, shiny and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Place dough in a covered, buttered bowl , in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
In the meantime, butter a large baking sheet and set aside.
When dough has risen, remove and punch down. Sprinkle with cinnamon and form into a cylinder, then twist this cylinder into a circle. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Once again, cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack completely before hiding baby doll inside or icing and decorating.

Icing
Mix sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of water until mixture is smooth, adding more water as necessary to achieve a smooth, spreadable consistency. Spread icing over cake and immediately sprinkle colored sugar in alternating color rows.

Recipe courtesy

King Cake

(From Southern Living 1990 Annual Recipes)

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 (16-oz.) carton sour cream
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 pkgs. dry yeast
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. warm water (105 º to 115 º)
2 eggs
6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
Colored frostings
Colored Sugars
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan; heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally. Let mixture cool to 105 º to 115 º.
Dissolve yeast and 1 T. sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs, and 2 cups of flour; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or by hand until smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts, for 1 hour or until dough is doubled in bulk.
Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
Pinch dough down and it divide in half. Turn one portion of dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll to a 28" X 10" rectangle. Spread half of the butter and half of the cinnamon mixture on the rolled out dough. Roll dough, jelly roll fashion, starting at the long side. Gently place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of dough together and form an oval ring. If you have access to a tiny plastic baby, tuck it into the seam before you seal it. If not, use a large, dried bean. Moisten and pinch the edges together to seal.
Repeat this procedure with the second half of the dough.
Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 375 º for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Decorate each cake with bands of colored frostings, and sprinkle with colored sugars.
Makes 2 cakes.
If you prefer to do it the easy way, make it in a bread machine... I did, and it works great. I just dissolve the yeast in warm water first, and dissolve the sugar, butter and salt in the scalded milk, let cool, and put in the machine. Eliminates all of that kneading.Some bread machines can't hold this large recipe, so you may want to use one of the recipes below. Just take it out as soon as it is mixed to rise.
NOTE: If you prefer, you can replace the cinnamon and sugar inside the roll of dough with a cream cheese filling or a pie filling in the flavor of your choice... just spread it thinly on the center of the rectangle before you roll it up. Popular flavors are blueberry, cherry, and lemon.