What To Serve With King Cake
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The pinnacle of centerpiece desserts, king cake has to be one of my favorite Mardi Gras traditions. The bright and colorful decorations sit atop a fairly simple dessert: a sweet cake with a cinnamon filling covered by a lemon and vanilla glaze. Easy to create, this is an absolute must to kick off the Carnival season. Present this festive cake at your Fat Tuesday celebration and let the hunt for the hidden baby begin! Never made a king cake before? Confused about what a “hidden baby” means? Read on to learn all about this delicious tradition:
King cakes are one of the best parts of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras festivities. In their traditional form, they’re a sweet pastry shaped into a ring (like a king’s crown) and covered with icing. They’re most often cinnamon- or cream cheese-filled, but every bakery has its own specialty, and you can find everything from pecan praline to coconut.
CAKE
FILLING
GLAZE
To start your king cake, you’ll want to pull out your stand mixer and fit it with the paddle attachment—we’ve got some serious mixing to do. Add the egg yolks, sour cream, granulated sugar, butter, and lemon zest to the mixer bowl and stir to combine.
Now, grab a medium bowl and whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make sure they’re evenly combined—you really don’t want to leave any pockets of salt or yeast.
With the mixer running on medium speed, gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Swap out the paddle attachment for the dough hook and knead the dough until it starts to pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. The dough will seem quite sticky at first, but resist the temptation to add more flour—just let the mixer do its work.
Time to let the dough rise. Coat a large bowl with some oil to prevent sticking. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turning to coat. Cover the bowl with a clan kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in the kitchen until the dough has doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen (the colder the kitchen, then longer the rise).
Punch down the dough with your fist or fingertips to remove excess gas. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll out to a 20" x 12" rectangle; orient the dough so a long side is facing you.
Time to add the cinnamon swirl filling! Whisk together the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Grab a small offset spatula and spread the butter evenly over the dough, leaving a 1" border at the top edge. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the butter. If you’re hiding a bean (in lieu of a baby) in the dough, place it on the dough now.
Starting with the edge nearest to you, roll up the dough into a log. Transfer the dough, seam side down, to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bring the ends together to form a circle; pinch to seal. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise once again for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375°. Bake the king cake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet; if you’re hiding a plastic baby, now’s the time to insert it into the cake.
While the cake is cooling, whip up the glaze. Whisk the confectioners' sugar, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl until the sugar is dissolved and the glaze is smooth but pourable. You’ll know you’ve got the consistency right if the glaze is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If necessary, whisk in more confectioners' sugar to thick or more milk, 1 tsp. at a time, to thin.
At this point, you can divide glaze among 3 small bowls and tint each with tint purple, green, and gold with food coloring, but I prefer to take simpler route. I drizzle the glaze over the cake and apply color with sanding sugar while the glaze is still wet (act fast!).
Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.
In the event of leftovers, this cake will keep well covered in plastic wrap for up to 1 week.
large egg yolks
sour cream
(100 g.) granulated sugar
(1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
finely grated lemon zest
(360 g.) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
kosher salt
(2 [1/4-oz.] packets) instant yeast
ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
canola oil
granulated sugar
ground cinnamon
unsalted butter, room temperature
(175 g.) (or more) confectioners' sugar
(or more) whole milk
fresh lemon juice
pure vanilla extract
Purple, green, and gold food coloring, for glaze (optional)
Purple, green, and gold sprinkles or sanding sugar, for decorating (optional)
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