To celebrate, I’m gonna dig into this King Cake! King Cake is a traditional New Orleans dessert and there are probably about a zillion of these cakes being made and eaten today in Louisiana. The King Cake originally gets its name from the kings of the east that went to visit baby Jesus. Many European countries still make this traditional cake at Christmas time as a way of celebrating the birth of Jesus. Well, that’s not what’s happening in NOLA. The King Cake has been a part of the Mardi Gras celebration since the eighteenth century and are made throughout the Gulf Coast region to celebrate this carnival season. The cake traditionally has a little baby figurine hidden inside it and whoever finds the baby in their slice of cake is declared king or queen for the day!
Some traditions are kind of silly and don’t make a whole lot of sense but we keep doing them because they are just that… TRADITION!
| New Orleans King Cake |
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
- 2 eggs
- 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
- Colored Frostings (see below)
- Colored Sugars (see below)
- Colored Frosting:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 drops green food color
- 2 drops yellow food coloring
- 2 drops blue food coloring
- 2 drops red food color
- Colored sugars:
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 drops green food color
- 2 drops yellow food coloring
- 2 drops red food color
- 2 drops blue food coloring
- COOK first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Cool mixture to 100 degrees to 110 degrees.
- DISSOLVE yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs, and 2 cups flour; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
- TURN dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
- STIR together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
- PUNCH dough down; divide in half. Turn 1 portion out onto a lightly floured surface; roll to a 28- x 10-inch rectangle. Spread half each of cinnamon mixture and softened butter on dough. Roll dough, jellyroll fashion, starting at long side. Place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends together to form an oval ring, moistening and pinching edges together to seal. Repeat with remaining dough, cinnamon mixture, and butter.
- COVER and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
- BAKE at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden. Decorate with bands of Colored Frostings, and sprinkle with Colored Sugars.
- COLORED FROSTINGS: Stir together powdered sugar and melted butter. Add milk to reach desired consistency for drizzling; stir in vanilla. Divide frosting into 3 batches, tinting 1 green, 1 yellow, and combining red and blue food coloring for purple frosting.
- COLORED SUGARS: Place 1/2 cup sugar and drop of green food coloring in a jar or zip-top plastic bag; seal. Shake vigorously to evenly mix color with sugar. Repeat procedure with 1/2 cup sugar and yellow food coloring. For purple, combine 1 drop red and 1 drop blue food coloring before adding to remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
Yields 2 cakes
Recipe Source: Southern Living (via AllRecipes.com)
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Great minds think alike!
I think this looks wonderful! And, now that I know what King Cake tastes like, I’m wanting another piece just from looking at your post! Happy Fat Tuesday, Jamie!