Bake a Cake Fit for a King this Mardi Gras

Colorful, Festive, and full of Fun Mardi Gras is here.

Mardi Gras is known for its music, beads, celebratory spirit, and sweets, more specifically the king cake. There is also the New Orleans tradition of hiding a small baby doll within the cake. The person who finds the doll is king for the day. While it may seem intimidating you can definitely make this iconic dessert at home. Bake your own delicious king cake this year. Clear your countertops and preheat the oven because we’ve done our research and found the most scrumptious recipe for you. The first step is to open up your cabinets and pantry and pull out these ingredients…

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk
• ¼ cup Butter
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
• ⅔ cup Water (warm)
• ½ cup Sugar (white)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp grated Nutmeg
• 5 ½ cups All-purpose Flour

Filling

• 1 cup packed Sugar (brown)
• 1 tbsp ground Cinnamon
• ⅔ cup chopped Pecans
• ½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cup Raisins
• ½ cup Butter (melted)

Frosting

• 1 cup Confectioners’ Sugar
• 1 tbsp Water

Directions

Heat milk on the stove until it is scalding hot and remove from the stove stirring in 1/4th cup of butter. Once the butter is melted into the milk let the mixture cool down to room temp. In a separate bowl, dissolve the active dry yeast in warm water with 1 tbsp of white sugar. Let rest for approximately 10 minutes.

Once the yeast begins to bubble add 1 cup of cool milk and whisk in the eggs. Next add the salt, nutmeg, and remaining white sugar stirring well. 1 cup at a time add and beat flour into the wet ingredients. Once all the ingredients are incorporated into a dough place on a floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic.

Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheight and prep two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

As your oven preheats it is time to make the filling of your king cake! In a bowl add in ground cinnamon, brown sugar, chopped pecans, ½ cup of raisins, ½ cup of flour, and lastly ½ cup of melted butter. Mix until crumbly and well combined.

Roll out your dough and split it into halves. Roll each into large rectangles either 10×16 inches or a size appropriate to your cookie sheets. Sprinkle your filling over the entire rectangle and roll the dough tightly. Do the same to the second dough rectangle. Take each roll, form two rings and place on cookie sheets. With a sharp knife or scissors make cuts into the ring at one-inch intervals. Only cut a little more than half wat through the dough and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size.

Finally, place your cakes into the oven for half an hour. After cooking you can not choose a random spot of cake to place a doll. While the cakes are warm but not hot, mix your confectioner’s sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and frost the top of the cake. Sprinkles in mardi gras colors like pink, green, gold, and yellow are a great addition.