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I made my first Mardi Gras King Cake this weekend. Much easier than I thought it would be. Hardest part was finding purple sugar sprinkles!
Critiques of my first attempt: I didn't bake it long enough and I filled it with too much cream cheese.
Overall: GREAT!
Here is the recipe I used, in case you want to get in on the Louisiana fun...the recipe made a lot of dough - I made a ~15inch cake and had a bunch left over so I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning.
Pastry/Brioche:
1 c milk scalded (I just heated it until bubbles formed on the edges of the pan)
3/4 c butter - softened
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c sugar (used ~2 tbsp of this to proof yeast)
4 1/2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs + 3 yolks
~5 1/2 c flour (may need a bit more when kneading)
I let the sugar/water/yeast proof while I scalded the milk. Removed milk from heat and stirred in the butter. Let the milk/butter cool slightly, while I put the dry ingredients in the bowl of my mixer (dough hook). Added the wet and kneaded about 5 -10 minutes until it pulled away from the sides of the bowl.
Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl until doubled (~60-90 minutes).
Filling: (too much filling for the size cake I made...but probably right for the whole dough recipe)
16 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
Glaze: (want to pour over cake while still warm....does typically pool in center of ring)
~1 c confectioner's sugar
1-2 tbsp milk
~1 tsp vanilla extract
Assembly, Baking and Decorating:
After rise and punch down, roll out dough into a rectangle...about 6 inches wide and as long as you want your cake round....(I made two rectangles and connected them - you can see it in the pic if you look closely - I'm not skilled yet at working with such a long piece of dough). Spoon the cream cheese filling into the center and roll up into a long tube. Pinch seams closed. Place on a baking sheet (I put it on a silpat lined baking sheet). Let rise again about 30 minutes. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. Don't put it too close to the top or it will brown too much before the dough is cooked through. Remove from oven, pour on glaze and QUICKLY dust with purple, green and gold sugar sprinkles....the glaze dries quickly and then the sugar doesn't stick.
When I make it again, I'm going to half the recipe and leave out a yolk and go a little less on the flour. But I'm definitely making it again!
Oh and some people jelly roll the cake....and some don't use cream cheese, but instead make a cinnamon/praline filling...and some just choose their favorite pie filling (apple, cherry, peach, etc) and use that. We like the cream cheese in this house.
Critiques of my first attempt: I didn't bake it long enough and I filled it with too much cream cheese.
Overall: GREAT!
Here is the recipe I used, in case you want to get in on the Louisiana fun...the recipe made a lot of dough - I made a ~15inch cake and had a bunch left over so I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning.
Pastry/Brioche:
1 c milk scalded (I just heated it until bubbles formed on the edges of the pan)
3/4 c butter - softened
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c sugar (used ~2 tbsp of this to proof yeast)
4 1/2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs + 3 yolks
~5 1/2 c flour (may need a bit more when kneading)
I let the sugar/water/yeast proof while I scalded the milk. Removed milk from heat and stirred in the butter. Let the milk/butter cool slightly, while I put the dry ingredients in the bowl of my mixer (dough hook). Added the wet and kneaded about 5 -10 minutes until it pulled away from the sides of the bowl.
Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl until doubled (~60-90 minutes).
Filling: (too much filling for the size cake I made...but probably right for the whole dough recipe)
16 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
Glaze: (want to pour over cake while still warm....does typically pool in center of ring)
~1 c confectioner's sugar
1-2 tbsp milk
~1 tsp vanilla extract
Assembly, Baking and Decorating:
After rise and punch down, roll out dough into a rectangle...about 6 inches wide and as long as you want your cake round....(I made two rectangles and connected them - you can see it in the pic if you look closely - I'm not skilled yet at working with such a long piece of dough). Spoon the cream cheese filling into the center and roll up into a long tube. Pinch seams closed. Place on a baking sheet (I put it on a silpat lined baking sheet). Let rise again about 30 minutes. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. Don't put it too close to the top or it will brown too much before the dough is cooked through. Remove from oven, pour on glaze and QUICKLY dust with purple, green and gold sugar sprinkles....the glaze dries quickly and then the sugar doesn't stick.
When I make it again, I'm going to half the recipe and leave out a yolk and go a little less on the flour. But I'm definitely making it again!
Oh and some people jelly roll the cake....and some don't use cream cheese, but instead make a cinnamon/praline filling...and some just choose their favorite pie filling (apple, cherry, peach, etc) and use that. We like the cream cheese in this house.
But I will make some beignets on Tuesday. 
Cat mommy since 2002 
I have NO idea what I did wrong, the water was the right temp, the yeast was new. 
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