Because I got the baby in the cake last year, I was in charge of supplying the king cake for Mardi Gras this year at work. I felt like trying to make one rather than drive across town to get one from the bakery, which I thought was nothing special. Normally the king cake stays around all day at my work, but people that normally wouldn't eat king cake tried some because it was homemade, so this one got completely eaten within a couple of hours. They especially loved the rich flavor of the bread, and that it wasn't overly sugary like the ones we got from bakeries.
I made this twice, once as a trial run because my attempts at yeast bread have been hit or miss in the past, and once for the real thing.
- I cut the recipe in half so it would only make one bread/cake (works great if you don't need to feed an army).
- I used a bread machine for most of the initial work, and did the shaping and final rise as normal.
- Since it's cold in the winter where I live and room temperature is not enough to raise the bread, I preheated the oven to its lowest temperature, then turned it off, placed a mug of boiling water on the edge of the cookie sheet the bread dough was on, and let the bread rise inside the warm oven. It worked great!
- I brushed egg wash on top (just beat an egg with a tiny bit of milk or water) before baking to give it a nice golden color.
- I went easy on the icing and did not double the filling as other reviewers of the recipe suggested.
- I did put a plastic baby figurine in it -- I slit the bottom of the cake and pushed it in after the cake was baked and cooled but before decorating so as not to smudge the decoration.
- I colored my own sugar purple for the cake. The color was soft when I first made it but got more intense after I sprinkled it on the icing.
Verdict: This recipe was a great success, and I would even consider making it when it's not Mardi Gras because it's that tasty.
RECIPE: Mardi Gras King Cake
