king cake

{just came out of the oven and they are DEEEEEE-LICIOUS!!!!}

{These are the first ones I made- not as good as the ones I made today. I'm learning! lol}

King cake is a yummy bread like cake.

wikipedia: A king cake (sometimes rendered as kingcake, kings' cake, king's cake, or three kings cake) is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries, and in other places with the pre-Lenten celebrations ofMardi Gras / Carnival. It is popular in the Christmas season (Christmas Eve to Epiphany) in France, Belgium, Quebec and Switzerland(galette or gâteau des Rois), Portugal (bolo rei), Spain and

Spanish America (roscón or rosca de reyes and tortell in Catalonia), Greece and Cyprus (vasilopita) and Bulgaria (banitsa). In the United States, which celebrates Carnival mainly in the Southeastern region (Louisiana and New Orleans in particular), it is associated with Mardi Gras traditions.

The cake has a small trinket (often a small plastic baby, said to represent Baby Jesus) inside (or sometimes placed underneath), and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations.

Anyhow- My hubby has Louisiana origin and loves to devour a king cake each year. His mom decided to make us one and family got sick so she couldn't get it to us this weekend as Michael expected. I have a love for baking and a brand new kitchen aid mixer, so I decided to give it a whirl. I used her new recipe for the first one with a cream cheese filling. It was yummy, but the first was way under cooked. I stuck the second back in the oven and it turned out great. I was sad I only had one though, because I wanted to give the second to my neighbor. She always bakes for me and I wanted to repay the favor with something fun. Michael said he is not used to a cream cheese filling and it is rainy and cold today so I decided to give it another shot. Today, I am trying a recipe I found with a cinnamon and sugar filling. The recipe called for pecans and

raisins, but I am leaving that part out because hubby doesn't like nuts. I also cut the recipe in half and still plan to make two smaller cakes out of it. So here it goes...

Ingredients

• PASTRY:
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 eggs
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)
• FILLING:
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup melted butter

• FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons water

Directions

1. Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 2 TBS of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1/2 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
5. To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.
6. Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Push the doll into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

**When they come out of the oven, I will post pictures :)