Mardi Gras King’s Cake

In less than 24 hour, as Mardi Gras mayhem will take over New Orleans and leave the streets with a thick layer of glitter and beads. I, for one, am quite jealous as I sit here in cold Manhattan writing this post. I have always wanted to go to New Orleans and experience Mardi Gras. Once upon a time, I was a party girl and would love to relive those days of my youth. Until the time when I can finally convince my friends, plan a trip and go to Mardi Gras in person, I will just have to live vicariously through the Snapchat and Instagram posts of others and of course make Mardi Gras inspired dessert to soothe the pain.

Speaking of Mardi Gras inspired desserts, today’s recipe is just that. The King’s Cake, according to wiki,  started out roughly 300 years ago as a dry French bread–type dough with sugar on top and a bean inside, now comes in many varieties depending on the country. One of those varieties, is  made of a sweet brioche dough in the shape of a hollow circle with a glazed topping sprinkled with colored sugar and it is what we are making today. An added twist to this recipe is that the filling is inspired by the French version of the cake (Galette des Rois) and made with almonds, bourbon and almond extract.

 

Ingredients:

• 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 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 5 1/2 cups all- purpose flour

Filling:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 melted butter
• 1/2 tsp bourbon
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Frosting:

• 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tbsp water

 

Directions:

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.

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.

 

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.

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
• To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped almonds, 1/2 cup flour, almond extract and bourbon. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.

 

• Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10×16 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. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Push the trinket into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners’ sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

 

And there it is. A beautiful king’s cake to celebrate Mardi Gras at home in New York.

As always, if you make this recipe please let me know how it turns out and feel free to send me photos.

 

 

*Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com