Okay, here’s the King cake recipe I promised. If you start now, you will be able to have it ready before your Mardi Gras party!
For this recipe, you will need 2 packages of active dry yeast, sugar, flour, nutmeg, lemon zest, milk, eggs, butter, cinnamon, green, purple and yellow coloring paste, confectioners sugar, lemon juice and of course, a tiny plastic baby (about an inch long). You can probably find one at your local crafts store.
Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into a bowl and sprinkle the 2 packages of active dry yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar into it. Let that mixture rest for three minutes then mix. The bowl needs to sit in a warm place for 10 minutes. You should notice the yeast bubbling up. In another bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, 2 teaspoons of salt then sift. Stir in 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Pour out 1/2 cup of milk into a bowl and warm in the microwave. Form a hole in the middle of the dry mixture and pour into the hole the yeast mixture plus the warm milk. Separate five eggs and add the yolks to that mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix all the ingredients well. Beat in 8 tablespoons of softened butter, adding one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat for another couple of minutes until the dough can be formed into a soft ball.
Lay your ball of dough on your floured surface and begin kneading it. While kneading, add one more cup of flour. When the dough is no longer sticky, continue to knead until it is shiny and stretchy. Use a pastry brush to coat the inside of a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of softened butter then place the dough ball in the bowl and rotate to coat each side with butter. Cover with a heavy towel and let sit in a warm place for about 1 – 2 hours to rise until it is twice as large as when you started.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with butter. Take the dough, place it on your floured surface again and strike it with a hard blow. Sprinkle on 1 teaspoon of cinnamon then form the dough into a long cylinder. Twist the dough and pinch the ends together to form a ring. Place this ring on your baking sheet, cover it with the heavy towel again and let it rise for another 45 minutes. In a small bowl, combine one egg with 1 tablespoon of milk. When it is finished rising, brush the top and sides with the egg mixture. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until brown. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack, but don’t forget to hide your plastic baby in it after it cools a bit.
You will need to make colored sugars by combining regular sugar with green, purple and yellow coloring paste. For your icing, combine 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 2 1/4 cups of water.
Once your cake is cooled, spoon your icing on the cake, making sure to cover the spot where you inserted the plastic baby. Sprinkle with the colored sugar and enjoy your King Cake!
