King Cake 2024

“She’s a chubby one!” said Angie.

Apparently I love a King Cake as this is the 3rd recipe on my blog for one. That is why, there is “2024” to tell this one apart from the others.

Since I’ve moved into using weights and metric, instead of converting my old recipes, I go looking for new ones with the measures in metric. I apply some experience to the recipes and call them my own. This is that. And she’s stellar. This King Cake has great flavor, it baked to a rich dark brown color, and was not dry.

King Cake 2024

113g unsalted butter, melted

170g milk, lukewarm

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, white reserved; at room temperature

420g AP Flour

50g sugar

28g nonfat dry milk

1 1/4 teaspoons table salt

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Filling

227g cream cheese, softened

100g sugar

21g AP Flour

1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla 

Icing

227g confectioners' sugar

pinch of table salt

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 to 3 tablespoons milk just enough to make it pourable. Thicker is better

Yellow, purple, and green fine sparkling sugars

For the dough combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix for 8 minutes.  Knead it a few times on the counter. 

Line a bowl with oil, rub the dough all over the oil lined bowl, then cover and allow the dough to rise, for 1 hour. It won’t double but it will get puffy. 

Transfer the soft dough to a lightly greased work surface. Pat and stretch it into a 20" x 12" rectangle, or lightly use a rolling ping to get the dimensions. 

To prepare the filling: Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth, scraping the bowl once. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until smooth.

Evenly spread the filling down the center of the long strip of dough closest to you. Encase the filling in the dough, like a log. Place the log of dough onto a parchment line baking sheet seam-side down. Pick it up and position it on the pan quickly and gently in a ring shape. Pinch the ends together.

Cover and let rise for about an hour, until it's puffy. Preheat the oven to 350°F while the dough rises.

Whisk the reserved egg white with 1 tablespoon water (egg wash), and brush it over the risen cake.

Bake the cake for 20 minutes, then tent it lightly with aluminum foil. Bake it for an additional 30 minutes, until it's a rich golden brown.

Remove the cake from the oven. After about 15 minutes, transfer it from the baking sheet to a rack to cool.

To make the icing: Beat together all of the icing ingredients, dribbling in the final 2 teaspoons milk until the icing is thick yet pourable.

Pour the icing over the completely cooled cake. Quickly, while it's still sticky, sprinkle with alternating bands of yellow, purple, and green sugars. 

It’s traditional to put a little baby figurine or a thimble in the cake. The person who finds the item will have a year of luck but is also tasked with making the cake the following year. I typically use a pecan which I insert after baking but before icing the cake.

This year Ricarda found the pecan, so she’s the lucky one!