Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 4 eggs
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup sugar (confectioners' variety preferred)
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 can cherry pie filling
- 1 can blueberry pie filling
- 2 plastic babies
- Glaze, recipe follows
- Colored sugar, recipe follows
Directions
In a saucepan, melt butter, milk, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. Let cool to lukewarm.
In a large bowl combine 2 tablespoons sugar, yeast, and water. Let stand until foaming appears, about 5 to 10 minutes. Beat eggs into yeast, and add milk mixture. Stir in 5 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Use reserved cup of flour for kneading surface.
Knead dough until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes. It will probably take the whole cup of reserved flour.
Place in large bowl greased with nonstick spray, turn once to grease the top, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Cream Cheese Filling:
Beat together the cream cheese, salt, sugar, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. Set aside.
On flat surface, punch down dough and divide in half. Turn 1 portion of dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a 28 by 10-inch rectangle. Do not roll too thin.
Spread half of the cream cheese filling lengthwise down the dough. Spread 1/2 of each pie filling on top of the cream cheese mixture. Place 1 baby anywhere in the filling.
Roll dough, starting at the long side. Gently place dough roll seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of dough together to form a circle. Tuck 1 end inside the other, moisten with water and pinch edges together to seal. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Repeat directions with other half of ingredients.
On a serving plate, ice the cake one strip at a time from center of ring to outside. Each stripe should be about 2 inches wide. Spread colored icing on cake and sprinkle colored sugar over icing. Repeat with each color of icing and sugar until entire cake is covered in icing and sugar toping.
Have a great Mardi Gras! "Laissez les bon temps rouler."
2 cups sugar, confectioners' variety preferred
1/4 cup butter, softened
Yellow food coloring (Power)
Purple food coloring (Justice)
Green food coloring (Faith)
In a bowl, combine sugar and butter, and stir until mixture is smooth. Separate mixture into 3 containers, and add food coloring. Mix until desired color is reached.
Colored Sugar:
1 1/2 cups sugar
Yellow food coloring (Power)
Purple food coloring (Justice)
Green food coloring (Faith)
In 3 lidded containers, add 1/2 cup of sugar in each, and add 1 food coloring to each container, cover, and shake vigorously.
* Guest Recipe
A viewer or guest of the show, who may not be a professional cook, provided this recipe. The Food Network Kitchens have not tested this recipe and therefore cannot make representation as to the results.
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Read all 7 reviews
By mjnjpilch_1795463
Burlington, KY
on January 21, 2010
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I have bought king cakes from the bakery and I've tried other recipes but this one is the best I've tasted. We liked it so much I made it again (without the Mardi Gras colors for Easter Brunch. This recipe makes a lot so be sure to share with lots of friends or don't plan to give up sweets for lent because you won't be able to resist the leftovers.
By kelleneappel_11...
Pearland, TX
on February 15, 2009
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This was my first ever attempt at using yeast and i was nervous because it was about 55 degrees outside all day. I proofed it in the gas oven with the light on and it worked well. As other commenters noted, the cream cheese filling was runny and leaked out during proofing and baking, so I would recommend more sugar of more time in the fridge after mixing. Also, I omitted the fruit fillings and lightly dusted the rolled out dough with cinnamon just before rolling it up. It was light anf fluffy and delicious!
By hbaucum_4719985
Clewiston, FL
on February 04, 2008
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I noticed while looking at the reviews that there was one thing left out. You are all right.....in my recipe, for the glaze, my recipe says...If icing is tooo stiff to spreadeasily add a little milk...If it is too thin, add more confectioners sugar. It should be fairly stiff. It will melt as it goes on the warm cake....Hope that helps clarify why it is stiff... :
Read all 7 reviews