Happy Mardi Gras!

King Cake Recipe from Food Network Magazine

When I saw the first several lines of the King Cake recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/king-cake-recipe2/index.html) I knew it would be another baking adventure with BEB!

** Prep Time: 45 min
** Inactive Prep Time: 11 hr 30 min
** Cook Time: 40 min
** Level: Difficult

I’m glad I recently read about multiple stages of dough preparation on the Brew and Bake blog so I wasn’t totally taken back by it; especially by dumping flour on top of a partial mix and then doing nothing (not even mixing it together) for 90 minutes.

I was surprised the recipe called for a food processor rather than the Kitchenaid mixer (I found out in the next steps that I wish I would have used the mixer rather than the processor). Adding the melted butter slowly certainly resulted in a sticky dough. It became so large and sticky the processor bogged down (while sounding strained) and some of the dough lodged under the blades and went up and over the shaft (I didn’t realize this last part until during the “clean-up” process).

After waiting 3 hours then kneading by hand I was again surprised by the recipe calling for another wait– now cover it and refrigerate for 8 hours (or overnight).
Wow! This Danish dough recipe is fantastic! I never worked with such a wonderful consistency of dough the next morning. Even though it had been in the refrigerator, it increased in size. Just from the feel of it still in the plastic wrap you could tell it would be light and easy to work with.
Aromas coming from the filling mixture were delicious even in the unbaked state. Directions from the recipe were carefully followed, but when I do this again I would be sure to leave a border at the short edges as well as the long edges when spreading the filling. The bottom seal was secure, but the side tuck was not (again, didn’t know this until the filling was oozing out during the baking) – it needed to be tucked without filling in the overlap, and then pinched.
Again, a waiting period after assembly– this time 2 hours – after doubling in size it was obvious this probably could serve 12; up until now the cake didn’t look large enough.

I know my oven runs on the hot side, but I was very surprised when I checked at 25 minutes and realized the cake was just about finished – there was no way it would stay in the oven 40 minutes. It was very brown, but not hard and crusty – it still had a great “spring” to the touch. I was concerned the center might be doughy, but it was great!
With just the glaze on top it was a beautiful shiny “cake”, but since it was a Mardi Gras King Cake (minus the baby, though) it needed the colored sugars. Even without green, it was just festive enough and more than delicious and rich enough to be the perfect way to celebrate Mardi Gras

Yummy! ~~K