King Cake

Emeril Lagasse

Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Mardi Gras Parade Food

Rated 4 stars out of 5
  • Rate This Recipe
  • Read 17 Reviews
Total Time:
3 hr 55 min
Prep
2 hr 40 min
Cook
1 hr 15 min
Yield:
12 servings
Level:
--
x

Save To My Recipe Box

Please limit to 20 characters

Saving Recipe

Adding Recipe

Or Do Not Add

Success

This recipe was saved to your Folder_Name folder.

x

Save To My Recipe Box

Please sign in to save this recipe to your Recipe Box!!

25 Characters Max

Enter Time:

:
:

You can create up to five timers

Ingredients

  • 2 packages dry active yeast
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)
  • 4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • Vegetable oil
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • Purple, green and gold sugar sprinkles
  • Plastic baby toy

Directions

Preheat the oven 350 degrees F. Combine the yeast, sugar, butter, and egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the milk. With the mixer on low speed, beat the mixture for about 4 minutes to dissolve the yeast. If the yeast mixture doesn't begin to foam after a few minutes, it means it's not active and will have to be replaced. 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 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 well-greased 2 pound coffee can or shortening can in the center of the ring to maintain the shape during baking. Press the plastic baby toy 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.

Print Recipe

COMMENT ON THIS PROJECT

    

Sign in

All fields are required.

E-mail Address:

Password:

Remember me on this computer

Signing in

Please enter your email address and we will send your password

E-mail Address

Your password has been sent and should arrive in your mailbox very soon.

Not a member?

Sign up for My Food Network to share photos, show off your style, and connect to an enthusiastic and helpful community.

It's free and easy.

Review This Recipe

You must be signed in to review this recipe.

Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 17 reviews

  • on February 21, 2012

    Flag

    I am not from NOLA, but I have made King Cakes each year for Mardi Gras - this is one of the best recipes I have used! The dough was easy to make, I don't have a bread maker, but do own a mixer with dough hook. I did double the filling as everyone here suggested and I think that was a good idea. It's pretty addictive! I won't need to look any further for King Cake recipes, this one is it!

    people found this review Helpful.
    Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No
  • on February 14, 2012

    Flag

    I made this cake and not only was it great, its the BEST King Cake I've ever eaten.

    people found this review Helpful.
    Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No
  • on March 16, 2011

    Flag

    I suggest preheating the oven sometime into the second rise.
    The comment about confirming live yeast had good intentions but we couldn’t tell if it was frothing or not after 10 minutes.
    We had to test the yeast using a conventional method before proceeding.
    Rolling the dough out 30 inches long and 6 inches ‘wide’ made more sense since we didn’t think we had enough mass to form a 30x6 inch cylindrical form. We didn't need to use a coffee can to retain the hole since the ring was pretty big - we'll probably use 24x6 next time.
    Rather than pushing in the toy from the bottom, we placed the toy with the cream cheese filling before pinching the tube closed.
    We glazed it while it was still hot to have it dry quicker but the sprinkles had to be added immediately.
    It's very yummy and next time we will try it with 2X the filling for the cream cheese lovers in our house.

    people found this review Helpful.
    Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No
Advertisement

Free Recipe of the Day Newsletter

Let Food Network chefs plan what's for dinner, with quick and easy recipes delivered to your inbox daily.

Ads by Google

© 2012 Television Food Network G.P. All rights reserved.