King Cake

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! I wish I could be in New Orleans, celebrating, but I'm not. I have to work. Bah. I'd love to get my hands on some of those beads. (I'd do what it takes, if you know what I mean. Heh heh heh.)

Maybe next year, right? Anyone want to come with? We can have a food blogger conference there. We wouldn't actually work, of course, but eat Gumbo, Jambalaya, Étouffée, Red Beans and Rice, Bananas Foster, Beignet and Coffee with Chicory. Yes, we'd eat all of that. Then go dance in the streets to some jazz, and burn off all the calories we just consumed.
Then go back to our hotel room and blog about all of it.

Since I have to work today, I made this king cake last night, along with some gumbo. The gumbo was very good, and I've only made it once before. I stirred the roux for about thirty minutes over medium-low heat, letting it brown slowly. I love the smell of the roux cooking. It made me think thoughts of gravy and past Thanksgiving dinners.

Then I added the trinity, with spices, gumbo file’ and hot sauce, and let it cook down for a while before adding some garlic. Then I added chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, and black-eyed-peas for some southern charm. My protein that I added was smoked sausage and grilled chicken. I guess I should have added some seafood in there, but I wasn't feeling it.
I served it over basamati and garnished with some cornmeal-battered fried okra.

It was goooood, but had a serious amount of heat. Not that there's anything wrong with that. My secret was using Frank's Red Hot. I suppose I should've used Tabasco, but Frank's is the best in my opinion.

Served with a hurricane and Andrew Bird.

No, I didn't make the hurricane. I was going to, but it was going to be expensive to buy three bottles of liquor, so I just bought a mix that Bacardi makes. It was under fifteen dollars... and I didn't have to make it. So I'm pleased.

But back to the king cake. I made this cake last night, so I didn't have daylight to take pictures in. I wanted to post the recipe early, though, so people could make it today. I'm going to take some pretty pictures and put them up later.

Have you had king cake before? This is my version: it's a sweet yeast bread flavored with a little bit of lemon zest and nutmeg. The filling contains brown sugar, toasted walnuts, bourbon-soaked raisins, orange zest and cinnamon. Then a frosting/glaze is spread on top, and colored sugar is sprinkled on top of the glaze.

We can't forget the most important detail, can we?? You have to hide a little plastic baby inside of the cake. The person that gets the piece with the baby has to make the cake next year and host the party. That's kind of lame. No one should want the piece with the baby in it!

I went plastic baby shopping and I couldn't find one. I ended up sticking a Swedish Fish inside of the cake. Kind of a strange choice, I suppose. I was trying to think of a candy that wouldn't melt.

I'll be back later with more pictures. Email me if you have questions about the recipe.

King Cake (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 packet rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup golden raisins, soaked in 2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest, plus an additional tablespoon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Plastic baby

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Purple, gold, green sugar

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 3/4 cup melted butter, granulated sugar, yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, lemon zest and nutmeg until well combined. Stir in flour until well combined; turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly (dough will be sticky, but resist from adding extra flour) for about 2 minutes. Place in a large buttered mixing bowl, cover with a towel, and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, nuts, raisins, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, orange zest and juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, until well combined.

Butter a large sheet pan.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a rectangle (using a floured roling pin) with about a 1/4-inch thickness; spread nut-raisin mixture evenly onto dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Place the baby randomly somewhere. Roll up the dough lengthwise, jelly roll style; place on sheet pan and form into a ring. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm area for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown.

When cool, prepare the frosting: in a medium sized mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla until well combined. Spread frosting over king cake.

Sprinkle with colored sugar.

Makes 10-12 servings

Source: visionsofsugarplum.com