King Cake
This moist, tender, buttery yeast bread, lightly sweetened then drizzled with vanilla glaze, sprinkled with colored sugars, and sometimes crowned with candied cherries, is a traditional New Orleans favorite. Served beginning on Epiphany, or Twelfth Night (January 6), it's enjoyed right on through Mardi Gras, a sweet symbol of this festive season. The sugars decorating the top of the cake mirror the color scheme of many a Mardi Gras parade float: gold (yellow) for power, green for faith, and purple for justice.
Originally King Cake was a rather plain bread whose flavor was almost all in its sweet toppings. Beginning in the late 1980s, however, customers began to demand something a bit more special. These days, most King Cakes are made with rich, brioche-like dough, and filled, most often with cream-cheese filling. While we give that version here, feel free to dream up your own filling: other New Orleans favorites include various kinds of fruit; chocolate, and praline.
Dough
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter, melted
3/4 cup (6 ounces) lukewarm milk
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, white reserved
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dried milk powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia or lemon oil, or 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Filling
8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla or 1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia or lemon oil
Icing
2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons + 1 to 2 teaspoons milk, enough to make a thick but pourable glaze
Topping
yellow, purple, and green fine sparkling sugars
candied red cherries (optional)
Lightly grease a 10", 4-cup capacity bakeable stoneware ring mold, or a baking sheet.
To prepare the dough: Using a stand mixer, electric hand mixer, or bread machine, mix and knead all of the dough ingredients together to form a smooth, very silky dough. You may try kneading this dough with your hands, if desired; but be advised it's very sticky and soft. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 hour. It'll become puffy, though it probably won't double in size.
Transfer the soft dough to a lightly greased work surface. Pat and stretch it into a 24" x 6" rectangle. This won't be hard at all; it's very stretchy. Let the dough rest while you prepare the filling.
To prepare the filling: Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and flour till smooth, scraping the bowl once. Add the egg and flavor, again beating until smooth.
Dollop the filling down the center of the long strip of dough. Then fold each edge up and over the filling till they meet at the top; roll and pinch the edges together, to seal the filling inside as much as possible. Don't worry about making the seal look perfect; it'll eventually be hidden by the icing and sugar.
Place the log of dough into the prepared ring mold, seam down or to the side (just not on top), or onto the baking sheet. The dough will be very extensible, i.e., it'll stretch as you handle it. So pick it up and position it in the pan quickly and gently. Pinch the ends together. Cover and let rise for about an hour, until it's puffy. Preheat the oven to 350°F while the dough rises.
Whisk the reserved egg white with 1 tablespoon water, and brush it over the risen loaf. Bake the cake for 20 minutes, then tent it lightly with aluminum foil. Bake it for an additional 30 minutes, until it's a rich golden brown. Remove the cake from the oven, and after 5 minutes gently loosen its edges from the pan, if you've baked it in a ring mold. After an additional 10 minutes, turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool (or transfer it from the baking sheet to a rack to cool).
To make the icing: Beat together all of the icing ingredients, dribbling in the final 2 teaspoons milk till the icing is thick yet pourable.
Pour the icing over the completely cooled cake. While it's still sticky, sprinkle with alternating bands of yellow, purple, and green sugars. Space candied cherries in a ring around the top. Yield: One loaf, about 16 servings.
Reviews
02/16/2010
What a wonderful recipe. I made the dough the night before, refrigerated it, and shaped and baked it the next morning. Turned out beautifully! I did not have the stoneware mold so I placed well greased ramikins in the center and they formed perfectly. Laissez le bon temp roulez!
02/16/2010
I tried to "knead" this by hand and it was just a mess! It was so soft and sticky that I was certain that I had not put in the correct amount of flour. I added more flour about a tablespoon at a time but it was still pretty sticky. The final product was good, but seemed dry to me. I had filled it with canned almond cake filling, because that is what my husband prefers. Then, I made another one with the cheese filling (except that I added some soaked raisins). This time, I used my stand mixer and the dough hook. I took care to measure exactly. It was still more like "batter" than "dough," so I added just enough more flour for it to kind of start to pull away from the sides. I also baked it about 5 minutes less. While the second was not as dry, it struck me as a tiny bit gummy. Not bad, but not wonderful. Of course, people at work raved about it, but I think that they will eat anything covered with sugar! It was very, very difficult to put in the pan -- I used a tube spring form pan. It looked very attractive. I jammed the babies in the bottoms after baking. Next year, I will try a different recipe. Thanks, though. I think that this may be beyond my baking skills!
Don't give up! Give us a call at the Baker's Hotline and we'll be happy to troubleshoot the recipe with you. Molly @ KAF
02/15/2010
I found this cake to have good flavor, but it was dry. I used a dried fruit/nut/struesel type filling vs. cream cheese based on personal taste, but a moister filling is probably a good idea. To keep the shape, as I didn't have a baking ring, I used the inside of a tube cake pan. (Based on the second rising, it clearly would have collapsed into itself without that support.) Frankly, it was so dry that instead of trying to eat it as-is, I turned it into bread pudding the next day. THAT turned out well.
I'm sorry the recipe didn't work for you. Give us a call at the Baker's Hotline and we'll be happy to troubleshoot it with you. Molly @ KAF
02/05/2010
Great recipe. Thanks to Sharon from Burlington's comment, I put a small round metal dish in the middle and I'm glad I did. The cake came out great. I used KAF baker's cinnamon mix for the filling rather than the cream cheese version.
01/31/2010
Still my favorite. This year, I bought the ceramic ring and it makes a huge difference. The dough rises more uniformly (on a sheet pan, I found that the dough under the filling couldn't rise and would be pretty compressed).
03/02/2009
Well, it came out great! There were no left-overs! I cooked it on a sheet pan, as I don't have the ring pan you mentioned. Unfortunately, during baking, the hole in the middle filled in with dough, so it was not a true "ring" shape. Next time I think I'll put something in the center to keep an opening there. It was very tasty and very festive with the colored sugars. Both kids and adults enjoyed it... and we did here a very loud, "I got the baby"!!
02/27/2009
We have been invited to a Mardi Gras party after the annual crazy Mardi Gras parade in Burlington this weekend. I am planning on making this King Cake recipe for the party. I have read all the reviews and suggestions. I'll let you know how it turns out!
02/21/2009
I'm a New Orleans native, so I actually prefer a less sweet version, but this is yummy. Next time, I may try adding some dried apricots to the filling - they'd complement the orange of the Fiori di Sicilia very nicely. It is a soft dough, but my kitchen was cool today and I didn't have a problem. If it'd been warmer, chilling might have been a good idea.
Jennifer - You are a native so I need to ask you what is the traditional filling for King Cake? I have seen so many variations from cinnamon sugar to cream cheese to almond filling. Email us if you have a chance! Elisabeth @ KAF
02/17/2009
This is my new favorite King Cake recipe. I agree with chilling the dough. It made it easier to work with because it is quite sticky.
01/25/2009
I used this recipe last year and we loved it! This year, though, I plan to chill the dough before filling as it was a bit too sticky to work with easily. Try it, you'll love it too!
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