Mardi Gras King Cake

Upon learning the news that we were moving to New Orleans, one of the first things I did was research how to celebrate Mardi Gras the right way. That, at some point, led me to the discovery of something called a King Cake.

A King Cake is basically a ring of cake (more of a bread, or danish, depending on the baker) that is decorated with the colors of carnival: purple, gold, and green. The cake is traditionally baked during Mardi Gras season - January 6th (The Twelfth Night) until Ash Wednesday in mid-February. Tradition dictates that a trinket be placed inside the cake before baking. Nowadays, a plastic toy baby is traditional, but I've read stories about old rich plantation owners putting jewels somewhere in the cake. The idea is whoever receives the piece with the baby (or jewel) is crowned the "king" and has to throw the next party or bake the next King Cake. The King Cake tradition is an old one, I believe originating from France, but has been a part of the New Orleans' Mardi Gras history for many years.

Now MOST people in New Orleans will probably go to a bakery to purchase their King Cake. A lot of grocery stores in the South sell them as well. I've never seen them in California, but I did see King Cakes in several grocery stores in Atlanta. But I, of course, would have no part in purchasing a pre-made cake, so I decided to make my own. And that brings me to this:

Mardi Gras King Cake

1/2 c. warm water
2 envelopes active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
4-5 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg (preferably fresh ground)
1 tsp orange zest (freshly grated)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 c. warm milk
1/2 c. unsalted butter (melted)

For the frosting:

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
food coloring

1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast and sugar in with the warm water. Let stand 10 mins.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 4 cups of the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, orange zest, and cinnamon. Add the eggs, milk, butter, and yeast (but make sure the milk/butter isn't too hot or the yeast will suffer). Mix together to form a sticky dough, then turn out onto a floured surface.

3.Knead the dough, and incorporate the remaining cup of flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky. You may need all of it, you may not. I think I used about 3/4 cup of the remaining flour. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, roughly 10 mins.

3. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, roughly 1.5-2 hours.

4. When the dough has sufficiently risen, turn the dough back out onto a floured surface and roll into a rectangle that is about half an inch thick. Roll the dough into a log, creating a very thick "rope" of dough. Next you will form the dough into a ring. I twisted the rope before forming a ring, so a more decorative top would form during baking, but that is entirely optional.

5. Place the ring of dough onto a greased sheet pan. In the center of the ring, you will need to place a round, oven-proof object, so the ring holds its shape in the oven. Really, anything small and round that can go in the oven will do. You can see in the photo that I used a small oven dish to put in the center, and it worked just fine.

6. Now let the ring of dough rest and rise for another 30 mins. Take this time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

7. When the oven has preheated, bake the King Cake for approximately 30 mins or until the top has browned.

8. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting: Mix together all the ingredients in a medium bowl to make the white frosting.

You can use this to make smaller batches of colored frosting, which is what I did. How you decorate the cake is up to you. Lots of people pour white frosting over the cake and use colored sugars or sprinkles to decorate the cake in the appropriate colors. I did not have colored sugars, but I did have food coloring. So I used small amounts of the white frosting to make colored frosting, then decorated the cake that way and added silver dragees (that I also happened to have with me).

Just make sure the cake has cooled before you pour the frosting on it or it will melt too much. After it is decorated, feel free to admire your work, cut yourself a slice, and serve with a cup of black tea and lemon. Enjoy!