MacKID Shreveport - Bossier Bake Your Own King Cake Challenge & Recipe

Sweet or Savory? Grab a friend & join us as we try our hand at baking our own king cakes!

King Cakes are a HUGE facet of our Mardi Gras season here in Louisiana. Some say that the King Cake was brought to New Orleans from France around 1870.

It's a sort of hybrid between brioche bread (sweet buttery and made with milk, butter and eggs) and a flaky French pastry.

A King Cake is typically braided and an oval-shaped or rounded which represents the unity of the faiths.

They are normally topped with a light icing and colored sugars: purple representing justice, green representing faith and gold representing power.

The brioche-base allows for bakers to get creative with a wide range of fun fillings which is where things get super interesting and tasty with endless combinations.

Some are filled with fruit based filling such as raspberry or apple while others are filled with cream cheese or bavarian cream.

Some extra-adventurous bakers spring for boudin or crawfish filled king cakes to REALLY make things interesting!

Originally, King Cakes contained a small bean, coins, pecans, or peas but now the most include a small plastic baby which is thought to bring good luck to the finder.

When the baby is hidden inside the King Cake, whoever finds it is designated as the person to bring the king cake to the next Mardi Gras celebration.

Our area offers a LOT of different types of King Cakes and every bakery does them differently. The ONLY way to find out who has the best, is to try them ALL!

While this may seem a HUGE undertaking and impossible, there ARE ways to pull this off WITHOUT having to buy a whole new wardrobe!

My personal fave is to host a King Cake party where you invite friends and instead of everybody bringing a dish for a potluck, they bring a King Cake from a different bakery around the area.

This year, in addition to our area-wide King Cake Guide, I'm sharing a few recipes for those of us brave enough to give baking their OWN King Cakes a try!

I challenge you to put your chef's hats on and give these a try in your own kitchens, then share pics of your creations with us on our social media accounts! Let's see those creations, everybody!

Boudin King Cake

Ingredients:

1¼ cups warm milk (you will divide this up according to the steps below!)
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
½ cup sugar (you will divide this up according to the steps below!)
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 large eggs (you will divide this up according to the steps below!)
4½ cups all-purpose flour
1 pound cooked boudin (remove the casings & crumble)
1 teaspoon water
Cane syrup (for drizzling)

Directions:

In a 1-cup glass measuring cup, mix ¼ cup warm milk, yeast & 1 tsp. sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add salt and remaining sugar until creamy. Add 3 eggs & remaining 1cup of warm milk & beat until combined. Stir in yeast mixture. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating until well mixed (about 2 minutes.)
On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for 5 minutes. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover & let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size (aprox. 1½ hours.)
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 14x10-inch rectangle. Sprinkle sausage on dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Starting at one long side, tightly roll dough jelly-roll style & press edge to seal. Place on prepared pan, and form into a circle, pinching ends to seal.
Using kitchen scissors or knife, cut notches into dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap & let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 teaspoon water & remaining egg. Brush wreath with egg wash.
Bake for 30 minutes, then cover with foil to prevent excess browning & bake 15 - 20 minutes more. Let cool for 10 minutes. Drizzle with cane syrup before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings

Traditional King Cake

Cake Ingredients

1 cup slightly warmed milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. dry yeast
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup melted butter
5 egg yolks - beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. grated fresh lemon zest
3 tsp. cinnamon
nutmeg to taste

Icing Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup condensed milk
1 tsp. lemon juice
Purple, green & gold sugars
1 plastic baby to hide under the cake after baking

Directions:

For the cake, pour the warm milk into a large bowl. Whisk in the granulated sugar, yeast & a heaping tablespoon of the flour, mixing until both sugar & yeast have dissolved.
Once bubbles develop on the surface of the milk & it begins to foam, whisk in butter, eggs, vanilla & lemon zest. Add remaining flour, cinnamon & nutmeg then fold dry ingredients into the wet with a large rubber spatula.
After the dough comes together, pulling away from the sides of the bowl, shape it into a large ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is smooth & elastic, about 15 minutes.
Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, & set aside in a draft-free place to rise aprox. 1 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in volume.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once the dough has risen, punch it down & divide into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece between your palms into a long strip, making 3 ropes of equal length. Braid the 3 pieces loosely together & then form into a circle, pinching ends together to seal. Gently lay the braided dough on a nonstick cookie sheet & let it rise until it doubles in size, aprox. 30 minutes.
Once it's doubled in size, place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake until the braid is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven & allow to cool for 30 minutes. Tuck the plastic baby into the underside of the cake while it cools so that it settles into it fully.
For the icing: While the cake cools, whisk together the powdered sugar, condensed milk & lemon juice in a bowl until the icing is smooth & spreadable. If it's too thick, add a bit more condensed milk. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.
Once the cake has fully cooled, spread the icing over the top then sprinkle with purple, green, and gold decorative sugar while the icing is still wet. Using a spatula, slide the cake onto a platter for serving.

SO, how'd it go? Share your King Cake creations with us on our social media platforms & tag us in the post! We want to see ALL of your handiwork, the good, the not so great & the totally awful if you're like me!

Didn't work out so hot? Don't worry, we have a HUGE list of area bakers who can hook you up with the perfect King Cake. You can find the list HERE.