FoodNuts!

Last weekend, a friend of mine and I decided to make a King Cake (sometimes called “King’s Cake”). Even though it’s called King CAKE, the recipe is essentially a rich, egg-y and buttery brioche bread, with icing.  This was the first time either of us had made a King Cake, and neither of us had much experience baking any kind of bread recipe, but it turned out quite delicious.

King Cakes are generally served either on Epiphany (Twelfth Night) or Mardi Gras, or both.  But you might also find King Cake at any get-together during the entire Carnival season leading up to Mardi Gras. This year, the late timing of Easter and Lent means that the Carnival season between Epiphany and Mardi Gras is particularly long — more King Cake for everyone!

The King Cake takes its name from the three kings who brought gifts to Jesus. Usually a plastic baby (or bean or dime) is hidden inside the dough prior to baking, and the person who gets the slice with the baby is supposed to make the next King Cake or throw the next party.  I’ve also heard that getting that slice brings good luck for a year, and sometimes the person who finds it wins a party favor or prize.  The colors on the cake are the highly recognizable and festive colors of Mardi Gras – purple (for Justice), green (for Faith), and gold (symbolizing Power).

Many recipes you might find for King Cake call for a filled cake, usually with a cinnamon sugar filling rolled into the dough. The recipe my friend and I used came from the Junior League of Lafayette, LA, “Talk About Good II” cookbook, and it does not call for filling.  Here is the recipe we used, with a few changes based on our experience.

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
3 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter
1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1 dried bean (or you can use a plastic baby, found in party favor supply or cake decorating stores, such as Party City)

Plus frosting and sugars, see below.

Directions

Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle the yeast into it. Stir gently to mix. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes, or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles in volume.

Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, nutmeg and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest.

Make a well in the center and pour into it the yeast mixture and milk. Add eggs and egg yolks, and with a wooden spoon gradually combine dry ingredients into the liquid ones.

When mixture is combined, switch to an electric mixer or food processor.  (We used a Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook.)  Beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to beat 2 minutes, or until dough forms a ball.

Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Incorporate up to one more cup of flour if necessary.  Knead until smooth and elastic – approximately 10 minutes.

Brush the inside of a large bowl with 1 tablespoon softened butter.  Set dough in bowl and turn it so as to butter entire surface. (At this point, you can refrigerate dough overnight, but we didn’t do that.)

Cover bowl and set aside for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.  Brush a large baking sheet with 1 tablespoon butter.  Punch dough down on lightly floured surface.  Knead.

(Note: you can divide the dough in half to make two “skinnier” cakes. We kept the dough in one batch and made one gigantic cake, but we decided we would make two the next time.)

Pat and shape the dough into a cylinder about 14 inches long. Place on baking sheet and form into rings.  Press baby or bean or dime into the dough so that it is hidden.  Set aside to rise for approximately 45 more minutes.  (In our trial, the dough didn’t rise very much during this second rising, but rose a LOT in the oven.)

When ready to bake, brush the top and sides of the rings with the egg-milk mixture. Be generous to get a nice golden crust!

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. (In our trial, 25 minutes was enough time, and we decided that if we had made two smaller cakes, the required baking time would have been even less.  In other words, keep an eye on it.)  Remove from oven and slide onto wire rack to cool.

Icing

Prepare the icing after the cake has cooled, and right before you are ready to frost. Once you pour the icing on, you have to work quickly to sprinkle with the sugars. They won’t stick if the icing has set up at all.

Ingredients

3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 – 6 tablespoons water

Colored sugars: Purple, Green, Gold/Yellow. These are available in specialty stores or online. You want to find very bold, deep colors – not pastel.

Combine the confectioners sugar, lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons of water in a deep bowl and stir until mixture is smooth.  If too stiff to pour, beat in more water, a few drops at a time, until desired consistency is reached.  Pour the icing over the cake, allowing it to run down the sides.

Sprinkle the colored sugars over the icing immediately, forming rows of purple, yellow, and green stripes, each about 2 inches wide.

(We made extra icing by adding a little more sugar and then a little more water. Particularly if you are doing two cakes, you might want more icing than this recipe makes. It depends on how thick you like the icing.)

Enjoy with coffee, mimosas – and definitely with friends!

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