posted by Kayce 01-28-101 7:07 AM
King Cake
Dough:
1/4 cup butter
1 (16-oz.) carton sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105-115°)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
6 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (add with first two cups of flour)
1/3 cup butter, melted
Combine first four ingredients in sauce pan. Heat on low burner until butter melts, stir occasionally, set aside and let cool. Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar with warm water in large mixing bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Add butter and sour cream mixture. Add eggs and blend well.
Combine melted butter and 1/2 cup sugar and add, mix well. Add 2 cups flour and cinnamon, gradually stir in the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Kneed dough on floured surface. Place in well greased bowl and turn over to coat all of dough with oil. Cover with damp towel to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour). You may want to use your warm oven for this process. Now make your cream filling and set it aside.
Cream Cheese Filling**
2 (8-oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth. Add egg and blend well. Add sugar, salt and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
After dough has risen to twice its size, divide dough in half. Place one half on generously floured surface and roll into 10-inch by 28-inch rectangle. Spread half of cream cheese filling on dough and roll into jelly roll. Traditionally, a ceramic or plastic "Baby" is added before rolling the cake, but consider safety factors for small children and be sure to inform anyone before eating the cake they may find the 'Baby'.
Be sure to put the seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Shape into a circle and pinch ends together. Allow the cake to rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely before decorating. Now you can make your icing and colored sugar for decorating! The really fun part!
Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons butter
5 to 8 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Yellow, green, blue and red food coloring
Combine all ingredients except food coloring, mixing well until it is of drizzling consistency. Separate into 3 equal parts. Add food coloring, by drops, until you reach your desired shade of yellow and green.
To create purple, start with equal drops of blue and red food coloring then add blue or red depending on your desired shade of purple. (Most often you will use more blue than red.) Drizzle each color of frosting over 3 sections of the cake. Allow the frosting to "set" well before adding colored sugar. (About 30 minutes to an hour depending on the consistency of the frosting.)
Colored Sugar:
1 1/2 cups sugar
Yellow, green, blue and red food coloring
3 zip lock sandwich bags
Separate sugar into 3 equal parts (1/2 cup each) into the three sandwich bags. Add food coloring (about 3 drops for yellow and about 3 drops for green). Be sure the bags are sealed and roll the bag between your hands to mix food coloring into sugar. To mix purple sugar start with 3 drops of blue food coloring and 2 drops of red food coloring. Add more of either color to create the shade of purple you prefer. Sprinkle on top of same color icing. Add any decoration you might have -- gold, green, purple beads, or any type of party favors fitting the color theme. Have fun and be creative! It's MARDI GRAS!!!!
**Chocolate chips, coconut, fruit jams or flavorings can be added after you have spread the cream cheese filling to create your favorite King Cake.
Source: Estourage Bed and Breakfast-Opelousas, La.