I've seen recipes for King's Cake all over the place with the colorful photos of green, purple, and gold. I've always been intrigued by the cake, but never impelled to make one. Until recently. I happen to belong to a facebook group that schedules round up events. One, being Mardi Gras. Even that didn't propel me immediately into thinking that I would join in, until I got my allrecipes magazine with a recipe for King's Cake in it!
Seeing reference to Mardi Gras twice got me to thinking, I should try this! It would be something new, something for me to experience that I hadn't yet! I did a little reading on Mardi Gras and King Cake was and found that I didn't have to fill it with cream cheese filling for it to be called a King Cake. This had most of the components of a King Cake - minus the bean or porcelain doll inserted into the cake.
While I may have been too late for the round up deadline, I certainly was not going to not post this. While not perfect looking, it was tasty and fun. My not so perfect cake bumped up some and filling did spill out while baking. Still, it looked pretty enough to me after it was completely decorated.
I learned that if I did this again, I would make mental notes to take it slower. While I know how to cook, sometimes I whiz right through things and take it too fast. Slowing down might make a more perfect loaf. 🙂 I wouldn't put as much filling in, and I would attempt to go slower when rolling the dough and pinching it shut.
This is a great breakfast cake. While it is called a cake, it really is more like a sweet bread. While I do love cheese fillings, I love almond fillings more. I was happy to find the the French actually use an almond filling in their King Cakes - which also are not always a traditional yeast bread cake, but can be an almond filled puff pastry cake (Galette de rois). I used David Lebovitz's almond filling for the Galette de rois in my yeast cake. You can find the filling recipe on his website.
Have you ever had a King Cake before? Did you get the slice with the bean or the porcelain doll? If you did, how did you celebrate being "King for a Day"?
- 4-¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 (.25 ounce) package rapid rise yeast
- 1-¼ teaspoons salt
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour (to use when doing final kneading - if needed)
- [url href="https://www.davidlebovitz.com/galette-des-rois-kings-cake-recipe/" target="_blank"]Almond Filling[/url]
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon almond milk
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Mix 4 cups of flour, white sugar, yeast, and salt together in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Mix vinegar and almond milk and let set. Whisk 3 eggs in a separate bowl, then add buttermilk into melted butter; heat until lukewarm (will be just warm to your touch). Whisk buttermilk mixture into beaten eggs.
- Beat egg mixture into flour mixture on medium-low speed to make a firm, elastic dough, about 10 minutes. If dough doesn't separate from the sides of the mixing bowl during kneading, beat in ¼ cup more flour.
- Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead for 1 minute, using more flour if needed to prevent sticking; form into a ball and place into a bowl coated lightly with oil or cooking spray. Turn dough around to lightly coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours.
- Make almond filling while waiting for dough to rise.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the outer edge of an 8-inch cake pan if desired. You will use this to shape the loaf into a circle. (I skipped this step and free formed it).
- Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Roll dough into a 10x28-inch rectangle. Spread almond filling over the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border along each edge - use a thin layer of filling otherwise it will seep out when trying to roll it and seep out more when baking. Lift an edge of the parchment paper sheet to roll dough into a log shape. Pinch seams closed to seal in filling, keeping roll on the parchment paper.
- Wrap the filled dough around the outside of the buttered 8-inch cake pan to form the dough into a ring; pinch the edges closed. Use parchment paper to lift the cake and cake pan and slide a baking sheet beneath the parchment. Gently free cake pan, leaving the ring-shaped cake.
- Whisk 1 egg with water in a small bowl and brush cake with egg wash.
- Bake king cake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cake cool.
- To make the glaze: Stir 1 cup confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, and milk in a bowl; mix in almond extract. Drizzle king cake with icing and frost with colored sugars.
From Valeries Kitchen says
I've never made a King Cake either but what a festive, fun thing to do for Mardi Gras!
Pam says
You did a fantastic job on the King Cake. My first one came out so bad looking (yeah for the glitter) but boy who cares what it looks like one of the best tasting cakes out there.
Life Tastes Good says
Very cool! The colors are beautiful!
Renee P says
I need to make one!! Its been awhile. I have a drawer full of tiny naked babies to insert once it's baked (they are plastic) from all the king cakes we have enjoyed over the years! Yours look terrific!!!