{"id":37,"date":"2008-02-05T23:50:44","date_gmt":"2008-02-06T05:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/05\/mardi-gras-king-cake\/"},"modified":"2008-02-05T23:50:44","modified_gmt":"2008-02-06T05:50:44","slug":"mardi-gras-king-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/05\/mardi-gras-king-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Mardi Gras King Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mardi Gras always brings back memories for me.\u00c2\u00a0 My family spent many years living in Lafayette, Louisiana when I was younger, and my brother was born there.\u00c2\u00a0 Mardi Gras is a big deal in Louisiana, obviously in New Orleans, but many other Louisiana towns celebrate Mardi Gras with parades and parties.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, I remember having Fat Tuesday off from school\u00c2\u00a0 and going to family friendly parades every year.\u00c2\u00a0 We also celebrated at school (in elementary school particularly) with a King Cake.\u00c2\u00a0 Typically, a small plastic baby is hidden in the cake, and whoever gets the baby in their slice of the cake has to provide the King Cake the next time around.\u00c2\u00a0 The King Cake is not so much a <em>cake<\/em> as it is a <em>bread<\/em> swirled with cinnamon (and sometimes filled with cream cheese, fruit, or a combination of the two).\u00c2\u00a0 It typically has a confectioner&#8217;s sugar frosting similar to a cinnamon roll, and is decorated with purple, green, and gold sugar.\u00c2\u00a0 Purple, green, and gold are the colors of Mardi Gras, representing justice, faith, and power.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, it has been many years since I&#8217;ve had King Cake.\u00c2\u00a0 Mardi Gras isn&#8217;t as big of a deal here, though they do sell King Cakes at the grocery store.\u00c2\u00a0 This year when I noticed the King Cakes popping up the grocery store, I decided I wanted to try to make my own for the first time.\u00c2\u00a0 I chose Paula Deen&#8217;s recipe from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Paula-Deen-Celebrates-Dishes-Wishes\/dp\/0743278119\/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1202276238&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Paula Deen Celebrates!<\/a>, her event-themed cookbook.\u00c2\u00a0 In addition to King Cake, her Mardi Gras menu includes lots of other things I love: Muffaletta Sandwiches, Jambalaya, Shrimp Etouffee, Red Beans and Rice, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce, French Quarter Beignets, and Cafe au Lait.\u00c2\u00a0 Certainly an excellent variety of food for any Mardi Gras party.<\/p>\n<p>My first attempt at King Cake turned out nicely, but I definitely had my doubts as it was coming together.\u00c2\u00a0 Since this is really a yeast bread and not a cake, the dough had to rise twice.\u00c2\u00a0 My dough never rose quite as much as it probably should have, even though I made certain that the yeast I used was active.\u00c2\u00a0 Additionally, I had some difficulty with the assembly technique for this Cake.\u00c2\u00a0 You are supposed to split the dough in half, create two jelly-rolls, then twist them together.\u00c2\u00a0 THEN you shape that into a circle.\u00c2\u00a0 Let&#8217;s just say mine was a little sloppy and sad looking before going into the oven.\u00c2\u00a0 Luckily, the oven worked its magic, and my King Cake, once frosted and decorated looked pretty good. \u00c2\u00a0 I was happy with the results, and will definitely make this again next year for Mardi Gras.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/mardi-gras-king-cake-modified.jpg\" title=\"mardi-gras-king-cake-modified.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/mardi-gras-king-cake-modified.jpg\" alt=\"mardi-gras-king-cake-modified.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Mardi Gras King Cake<\/h4>\n<p>from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Paula-Deen-Celebrates-Dishes-Wishes\/dp\/0743278119\/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1202276238&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Paula Deen Celebrates! <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1\/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened<\/li>\n<li>2\/3 cup evaporated milk<\/li>\n<li>3\/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon salt<\/li>\n<li>2 envelopes active dry yeast, regular or rapid rise<\/li>\n<li>3 eggs<\/li>\n<li>Grated zest of 1 lemon<\/li>\n<li>6 cups all-purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>4 tablespoons (1\/2 stick) butter, melted<\/li>\n<li>1 egg white, for glazing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cinnamon-Sugar Filling:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1\/2 cup granulated sugar<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon ground cinnamon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>White Icing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 cups confectioners&#8217; sugar<\/li>\n<li>2 tablespoons whole milk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Colored Sugar<\/p>\n<p>Instructions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Melt the butter in the microwave in a medium mixing bowl\u00c2\u00a0 Add the evaporated milk, 3\/4 cup of the sugar, and the salt.\u00c2\u00a0 Stir so that the sugar dissolves.\u00c2\u00a0 Allow to cool.<\/li>\n<li>Dissolve the yeast in 1\/4 cup lukewarm water and stir in the remaining teaspoon sugar.\u00c2\u00a0 Allow to stand for 10 minutes, until foamy.\u00c2\u00a0 If the yeast does not foam up, it is no good, so you&#8217;ll have to start over with new yeast and sugar.<\/li>\n<li>Add the yeast mixture to the butter and milk mixture.\u00c2\u00a0 Add the eggs and lemon zest and whisk together vigorously, until well blended.<\/li>\n<li>Whisk in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until you have a thick paste&#8211;about 3 cups flour.\u00c2\u00a0 Then switch to a wooden spoon and continue adding flour and mixing well.\u00c2\u00a0 Do not add more than 6 cups flour, or your cake will be too dense.\u00c2\u00a0 When you have added all the flour, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured wooden board and knead it with your hands, which you have dusted with flour, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about a dozen turns.<\/li>\n<li>Place the dough into a large clean bowl that you have sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray.\u00c2\u00a0 Turn the dough to coat all sides with spray.\u00c2\u00a0 Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.<\/li>\n<li>Make the cinnamon-sugar filling: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small dish and stir well.<\/li>\n<li>Punch the dough down and divide the dough in two.\u00c2\u00a0 Roll out each half into a 10 by 15 inch rectangle. Brush each rectangle with half of the melted butter and then sprinkle each rectangle with half of the cinnamon-sugar filling mixture.\u00c2\u00a0 Roll up along the long end like a jelly roll.\u00c2\u00a0 Press the roll together at the seam, sealing with water if necessary.\u00c2\u00a0 Wind the two rolls together, forming one thick piece.\u00c2\u00a0 On a baking sheet sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray, form the dough into a circle and seal the ends together.<\/li>\n<li>Cover with a tea towel and allow the cake to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour (when it rises, the center will close up and it will look like a bumpy &#8220;cake&#8221;), until it almost doubles in size.<\/li>\n<li>Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.\u00c2\u00a0 Whisk the egg white with 1 tablespoon water.\u00c2\u00a0 Brush\u00c2\u00a0 the top of the cake with the egg white.\u00c2\u00a0 Bake the cake for 35 minutes, until it is browned and sounds hollow when tapped.<\/li>\n<li>Make the white icing: Combine the sugar and milk in a small dish and whisk until smooth.\u00c2\u00a0 If the mixture seems too thin, add a little more sugar.\u00c2\u00a0 If it won&#8217;t drizzle, add a little more milk, 1\/2 teaspoon at a time.<\/li>\n<li>Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.\u00c2\u00a0 Drizzle with icing and sprinkle the colored sugar in random patterns over the white icing.\u00c2\u00a0 Slice across the width of the cake into thin slices to serve.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Makes about 24 thin slices.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/05\/mardi-gras-king-cake\/\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mardi Gras always brings back memories for me.\u00c2\u00a0 My family spent many years living in Lafayette, Louisiana when I was younger, and my brother was born there.\u00c2\u00a0 Mardi Gras is a big deal in Louisiana, obviously in New Orleans, but many other Louisiana towns celebrate Mardi Gras with parades and parties.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, I remember [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cake","category-dessert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}