Beautiful and tasty and fun to make! I only had 10 oz. of cream cheese but it was enough to make the filling for this Mardi Gras speciality. I did roll the dough into a rectangle, smoothed on the cream cheese mixture with an off set spatula and sprinkled with pecans, rolled jelly/cinnamon roll style and then formed into a circle tucking one end into the other. The baking time was closer to 40 min maybe because the circle was more compact but the end result was moist and delicious. Also cut the icing recipe by half-more than enouch to create the beautiful drizzle for holding the sprinkles.
King Cake
This traditional cake, made here with a rich brioche dough and stuffed with a decadent cream cheese filling, is drizzled with a buttermilk glaze and sprinkled with crunchy green, gold, and purple sanding sugars.
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Credit: Anna Stockwell
1 1/4-oz. package active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
8 tbsp. softened butter
For the Filling:
1 lb. cream cheese
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Zest of 1/2 lemon
For the Icing:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
Green, purple, and yellow sanding sugars
1. Make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a hook, combine yeast, 1/2 tsp. of the sugar, and 1/4 cup water heated to 115°. Stir to combine and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, 1 minute. Turn mixer off and add flour and salt. Mix on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Turn mixer speed to high and knead dough for 4 minutes. Add the butter and continue kneading until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit until doubled in size, 1 1/2–2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, salt, and zest in a large bowl and beat on medium speed of a hand mixer until combined; set aside.
3. Punch down dough and turn it out onto a heavily floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large circle, about 1/4"-thick. Cut a hole in the center of the circle and pull with your fingers to widen. Place dollops of filling evenly around circle halfway between outer edge and inner hole. Drape outside edges over filling and continue rolling outside inward until filling is covered, widening inner hole as needed, until dough covers the seam. Transfer rolled dough circle to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour. Heat oven to 350°. Uncover cake and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.
4. Make the icing: Whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer king cake to a cutting board or serving platter; spread icing evenly over top of cake and sprinkle evenly with sanding sugars.
Ratings & Reviews (4)
Can anyone suggest a less messy way of getting the sprinkles on without them going all over the place.
So So delicious. I found it pretty easy to make, even without an electric mixer. The bread is wonderful all by itself.
I have tried other recipes for a King Cake and failed. This one turned out perfectly! I am not big on cinnamon, so I reduced the amount by half and also used walnuts instead of pecans. The cake/bread is tender and delicious. This recipe will become a Mardi Gras tradition for me.
King Cake
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