Mardis Gras King Cake With A Cream Cheese Filling Recipe 445

Steps:

• Combine sour cream, 1/3 cup sugar, butter, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let mixture cool to 100 to 110 degrees F, about 15 minutes.
• Stir together water, yeast, and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a 1-cup glass measuring cup; let stand for 5 minutes.
• Combine sour cream mixture, yeast mixture, eggs, and 2 cups of the flour in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; gradually add 4 more cups of flour, beating until dough comes together.
• Turn dough out onto a surface dusted with 1/4 cup of the flour. Knead, gradually adding remaining 1/2 cup flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Dough should be tacky but release easily from surface.
• Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Beat cream cheese, sugars, cinnamon, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in egg.
• Gently punch dough down; divide in half. Roll 1 portion out into a 22x12-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Keep the other portion covered. Spread 1/2 of the filling over rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans. Carefully roll up, starting from a long edge.
• Place roll, seam-side down, on a large parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bring ends of roll together to form a ring. Moisten ends with water; pinch together to seal. Repeat with remaining dough, filling, and pecans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Uncover dough rings.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cakes are a deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes completely on wire racks, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Stir confectioners' sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract together to make the glaze. Stir in 3 tablespoons milk. Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until pourable but still opaque. Pour evenly over cakes. Sprinkle with sparkling sugars, alternating colors to form bands.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven 350 degrees F. Combine the yeast, sugar, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the milk and with the mixer on low speed, beat the mixture for about 4 minutes to dissolve the yeast. Gradually add yolks to the yeast mixture.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Add this mixture to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until it lightly comes together, then increase the speed to medium and beat until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forms a ball, and climbs slightly up the dough hook. Remove the dough from the bowl.
• Coat the dough with the remaining teaspoon of vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set in a warm, draft-free place, and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Mix well.
• In another small bowl, combine the remaining powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk. Mix well and set aside.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out 30 inches long and 6 inches in diameter. Spread the cream cheese filling across the center of the dough. Bring the two long edges together and seal all sides completely. Using your hands shape the dough into a long cylinder and place on a greased baking sheet, seam side down. Shape the dough into a ring.
• Place a clean well-greased (free of all paper, etc.) 2 pound coffee can or shortening can in the center of the ring to maintain the shape during baking.
• Press the baby (small plastic doll) into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough. Cover the ring with a towel and place in a warm, draft free place. Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
• With a sharp knife, make several slits around the top of the ring. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
• After baking remove the coffee can immediately. Allow the cake to cool. Drizzle the cake with the sugar glaze. Sprinkle the cake with sprinkles, alternating colors. Cut the cake into individual pieces and serve.

Steps:

• NOTE: This makes enough dough for two King Cakes. Because I use a ceramic round pan, with a hole in the middle, I will reduce the ingredients by half. Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. NOTE: I mixed the dough with my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. A hand mixer won't work, though. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half. NOTE: I turn my oven on WARM for 2 minutes, then shut it off. This creates a warm "incubator" and helps the dough to rise even faster. Make the egg wash, and brush on the cakes, before baking. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. NOTE: I ordered a ceramic baking dish, from King Arthur Flour online, which makes baking this cake a breeze. FOR THE FILLING: Stir cream cheese, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, lemon zest, juice, and vanilla extract, in a bowl until filling is smooth. ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border, and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Pinch seams closed to seal in filling. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Or, place into ceramic round baking dish, as noted above. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. NOTE: I didn't cut the dough, and my bread turned out great. Bake in preheated 375F oven for 30 minutes. NOTE: My bread took closer to 45 minutes. DECORATE: You will need purple, green and gold coarse sugar and a plastic "doll" or use a "bean". Do NOT bake the plastic doll with the bread! Push the doll into the bottom of the cake.