World’s Most Delicious King Cake Recipe EVER
King cake has been a dish that has been traditionally made and eaten on different Catholic feast days, including 3 Kings Day (the Epiphany) and also Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). There is a baby Jesus hidden inside the cake, it is shaped like a crown, and now it generally features the New Orleans colors of purple, green, and yellow.
Ingredients
Ingredients Needed For The Dough:
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1 packet instant rise yeast
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar + 1tbsp separated
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp olive oil
Ingredients Needed For The Filling:
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Ingredients Needed For The Icing:
- 1.5 cup powdered sugar
- 1.5 tablespoons milk
- ½ tsp vanilla
Ingredients Needed For The Topping:
- green, yellow, and purple sugar
What You Need For Inside:
- a little plastic baby Jesus
Instructions
Instructions For Making Delicious King Cake Dough
- Start by preheating your oven to 200°F.
- Take the 2 eggs from your refrigerator and place them into a bowl of warm water. Let them warm up for 5 minutes to bring them to room temperature.
- In a separate bowl, add your warm milk, 1 tbsp of sugar, and yeast. Stir this mixture with a fork or a whisk. Allow this to sit for 5-10 minutes, at which point your yeast should be bubbling or growing in size. If it’s not, throw this mixture out and start again.
- Next, pour your yeast mixture, eggs, and melted butter into a stand mixer, or if you don’t have one you can whisk it by hand.
- Mix this until it’s combined, and then add half of the flour.
- Next, add in the remainder of the sugar and the salt. When this is mixed you can add the remainder of the flour. Keep mixing until this is well incorporated.
- Lightly flour a surface to work on with your dough, and use this to knead the dough for 5-7 minutes. You can knead the dough using the “taco method”, meaning fold it over, press together, fold it over, press together, etc.
- When your ball of dough is nice and smooth, put 2 tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of a large bowl and place the ball of dough inside. Cover the top of the bowl and allow it to rise in a warm area for about an hour.
- Come back in an hour when it has risen.
- After the dough has risen for an hour, punch it down.
- Again, turn it onto your lightly flowered surface and knead for another 1-2 minutes.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle. This should be about 20 inches long.
How To Fill The King Cake
- Now we are going to add the ingredients in the “filling” category. Brush the softened butter onto the dough, and cover it with the cinnamon sugar. Make sure this covers the entire surface of the dough.
- Optionally, you can sprinkle pecans onto the dough at this point as well.
How To Shape The King Cake
- Tightly roll the dough long ways, similarly to the way you would a jelly roll.
- Roll it onto a piece of parchment paper, which you can slide onto your baking dish. Bring the 2 ends of the long roll together to form the shape of a circle or oval. Either shape is great. Seal the 2 ends together. You can use a bit of water or milk to help with this.
- Cover and let it rise again for another hour.
- After rising for 60 minutes, brush the entire cake with milk. Now it’s ready to bake!
- Bake this cake in a 375°F oven for 25-30 minutes, or until it is golden brown.
- Let the cake sit for 15-20 minutes.
How To Make The King Cake Glaze
- Combine your powdered sugar, milk or water, and vanilla in a bowl. Stir the mixture until it’s smooth. The icing should be thick, but also pourable.
- This is the time to add your plastic baby Jesus to your cake! Cut a small slit into the inside of the cake circle where it won’t be seen, and slide the plastic baby in.
- Now you can drizzle the glaze over the king cake. Promptly sprinkle it with green, yellow, and purple sanding sugar.
- Your king cake is now ready to serve!