King Cakes & 200th Blog Post

 Happy 200th jauberry post! Time for cake- King Cake!

       Living in Wyoming can prove difficult when you are trying to find a King Cake during the Mardi Gras season. There are none, which makes the search very difficult indeed. They will ship them from Louisiana, if you are willing to pay $60 and settle for one that taste like a distant cousin of the ones you get at home. I decided I would bake my own, and solve my King Cake problems. I made one four years ago, but it is not something you just decide to make one afternoon, the whole process takes about six hours. My King Cake quest was almost foiled by the absence of purple sprinkles in Jackson, however, I decided to fill in the purple sections with purple icing. (Side note: India Tree Sparkling Sugars are the most divine sprinkles in the whole world. They are so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking them up.)

            I realize that most of you are not concerned with making your own King Cakes since you live in Louisiana, the south, or some civilized part of the country that has things like King Cakes and purple sprinkles, but if you are going to attempt to make this recipe, make it before a party since it feeds twenty people easily.

Ingredients

·         PASTRY:

·         1 cup milk

·         1/4 cup butter

·         2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

·         2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

·         1/2 cup white sugar

·         2 eggs

·         1 1/2 teaspoons salt

·         1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

·         5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·          

·         FILLING:

·         1 cup packed brown sugar

·         1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

·         2/3 cup chopped pecans

·         1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·         1/2 cup melted butter

·          

·         FROSTING & DECOR

·         3 cup confectioners' sugar

·         3-5 tablespoon water

·         Purple, Gold, Green Sprinkles (India Tree Sparkling Sugar)

Directions

1.     Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2.     When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.

3.     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.

4.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

5.     To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.

6.     Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). 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. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

7.      Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Push the doll into the bottom of the cake.

8.      When I frosted the king cakes, they were cooled. I placed the frosting in a Ziploc bag and cut the corner. Make sure this is a very small cut. I then used the Ziploc bag like a pastry bag to frost.

9.      Decorate with sprinkles immediately as the frosting still needs to be tacky in order for the sprinkles to stick.

10.  Eat. Especially wonderful for breakfast with a cup of Community Coffee. 

India Tree Sparkling Sugars