My first King Cake

I absolutely LOVE King Cake!  For you Northeners  that have no clue what I am talking about.  King Cakes are part of Mardi Gras tradition and in New Orleans and surrounding areas.  Read more on the history on wiki here.  They typically are sold for just a couple of months during Mardi Gras season.  For a King Cake lover like myself that is not a good thing!  They are around $8 at the store!  OUCH!  I would try to squeeze in eating many King Cakes while I could get them in years past... I will shamelessly admit that on an occassion or two I would pretty much eat the whole thing myself, because I didn't like sharing, I mean the kids didn't want any... yeah that's it!

Mardi Gras King Cake

Inspired when I saw this recipe on Southern Plate yesterday... Well today I kept thinking about making one.  In Christy's Recipe she used frozen bread dough.  I pretty much make as much homemade as I can though so I made my dough in my bread machine which was easy peasy!  Now if you don't have a bread machine you can also make your dough by hand (first proofing your yeast, first 3 ingredients)  If you have any questions let me know!  For my dough recipe I altered my Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

Here is the run down:

Dough Recipe: (or use frozen bread dough, thawed of course)

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm warm
• 2 TBS sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour (I used bread flour but all-purpose flour would work ok too)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 TBS Vegetable Oil

Filling Recipe:

• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 1 cup powdered sugar 

Glaze Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tbs milk (add just enough to get to a pourable consistancy)
• 1 tsp vanilla  

I did my bread in the bread machine on the dough cycle.  (If you are kneading by hand work the dough to a good consistency and set in a warm draft free spot for the first rise) allow an hour or so for this

Then, turn dough to a lightly floured surface.  gently work it into a large... long rectangle shape.  (this will be your ring so get it good and long... mine was probably around 18-20" x 6" or so.  Ok... read on in the captions of the photos.  Sometimes seeing a picture is easier!

Beautiful dough :)

Use colored sugar.  You can make your own very easily by adding several drops into some sugar... Do this in a jar and shake vigorously.  I had green and yellow but needed purple.... I don't think I will ever buy colored sugar again!

This is our purple.  eh... not the best but will do! We used Blue and Red.  Next time I will try green and red and see how that goes

I shaped into a long rectangle and just patted the dough out with my fingers

Mix filling cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice

Slap on the cream cheese in the center  (or other filling)  I added blueberries to 1/2 that were partially frozen per eldest child's request :)  Then gently fold thetop of the dough to the center and the bottom over that.  making sure to seal the filling in

All rolled up!  Transfer to cookie sheer or baking stone carefully.  Cover with damp cloth in a warm spot for 45 minutes to an hour until doubled

Here it is all doubled up and ready to bake!  Bake on 350 F about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown

Golden brown!  I transfered mine to a glass plate to cool.

Once cooled you can hide a little plastic baby somewhere inside.  Just push it thru the underside or side, somewhere inconspicuous!  Drizzle glaze on top and sprinkle with colored sugar! 
Traditional Mardi Gras colors are Gold, Green, and Purple. 

More menu Ideas