Mardi Gras King Cake
from Mitch Mandell, posted at www.fabulousfoods.com
King Cakes are a huge part of Mardi Gras traditions throughout the South from Western Louisiana through Eastern Alabama and are available at bakeries all over the South, but only after January 6 through Mardi Gras Day. 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 where the custom of hiding a tiny baby doll in the cake, started.
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. The traditional King Cake is made from twisted strands of cinnamon dough, topped with icing, and sprinkled with purple, green, and gold colored sugar. Over the years, some folks have played with the traditional version to include various fillings. Mitch Mandell claims that this is the original, as it was taught to him when he was a teenager in Mississippi.
Cake: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash |
Icing: 3 cups confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice 3-6 tablespoons water additional sugar & food coloring for decoration 1 tiny 1" baby doll (see notes above) |
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.
Makes 1 cake
Mardi Gras King Cake
from Southern Living magazine, January 1990
Cake: 1/4 cup butter or margarine |
Colored Frosting: 3 cups powdered sugar Colored sugars: 1 1/2 cups white sugar |
COOK first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Cool mixture to 100 degrees to 110 degrees.
DISSOLVE yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs, and 2 cups flour; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
TURN dough onto a lightly floured surface; 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 (85 degrees), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
STIR together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
PUNCH dough down; divide in half. Turn 1 portion out onto a lightly floured surface; roll to a 28- x 10-inch rectangle. Spread half each of cinnamon mixture and softened butter on dough. Roll dough, jellyroll fashion, starting at long side. Place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends together to form an oval ring, moistening and pinching edges together to seal. Repeat with remaining dough, cinnamon mixture, and butter.
COVER and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
BAKE at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden. Decorate with bands of Colored Frostings, and sprinkle with Colored Sugars.
COLORED FROSTINGS: Stir together powdered sugar and melted butter. Add milk to reach desired consistency for drizzling; stir in vanilla. Divide frosting into 3 batches, tinting 1 green, 1 yellow, and combining red and blue food coloring for purple frosting.
COLORED SUGARS: Place 1/2 cup sugar and drop of green food coloring in a jar or zip-top plastic bag; seal. Shake vigorously to evenly mix color with sugar. Repeat procedure with 1/2 cup sugar and yellow food coloring. For purple, combine 1 drop red and 1 drop blue food coloring before adding to remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
Yield: 2 cakes
Haydel's Bakery King Cake
David Haydel offers this recipe for traditional King cake, which Haydel's bakers prepare throughout the weeks preceding Mardi Gras. If using a plastic baby in the cake, insert it after baking so that it does not melt; a bean (or pecan or walnut) may be added before or after baking.
Be sure to use food-coloring pastes (available at bakers'-supply firms) because the sugar does not take liquid colors evenly.
1 cup milk (at room
temperature)
1 tsp. flavoring (lemon,
orange, vanilla,
or butter)
2 packages active dry
yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup all-purpose shortening
2 large eggs, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
Cinnamon sugar
12 tbsp. granulated sugar
Purple, green, and yellow food-coloring pastes
Put the milk in a small bowl and add the flavoring. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and set aside for a few minutes until foamy. In a large bowl, cream well together the sugar, salt, and shortening. Add the beaten eggs and continue creaming. Blend in the yeast mixture and add the flour slowly, kneading constantly until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 10 minutes. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half or until double in size.
Roll the dough out in a rectangular shape and brush the surface with vegetable oil. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. Seal in the sugar by folding the dough in half lengthwise. Cut the dough into three even strips, sealing the edges, and then braid the strips together. Form the braided dough into a circle and let it rise until double in size.
Preheat the oven to 370 degrees and mix the purple, green, and yellow food-coloring pastes with 4 tablespoons of sugar each; put the colored sugars on the cake just before it goes in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes. (An alternate choice is to frost the baked and cooled cake with white icing and then sprinkle on the colored sugars.)
Serves 10-15
