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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 8, 2010 9:22:03 GMT
I make one every year, my Grandmother taught me. They are a big hit with friends. The King Cake tradition came to New Orleans with the French settlers around 1870, continuing a custom dating back to 12th century France. The colors on the cake are purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. Hidden in each oblong of braided coffee-cake dough is a bean or plastic baby; custom dictates that whoever finds it must give the next King cake party. I hide the tiny plastic baby in my cake, I get mine online. * 1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115°F) * 2 packages active dry yeast * 2 tsp sugar * 31/2 – 41/2 cups all-purpose flour * 1/2 cup sugar * 2 tsp salt * 1 tsp allspice * 1 tsp lemon zest * 1/2 cup warm milk * 5 egg yolks * 1 stick butter cut into slices and softened * 1 T additional butter for bowl * 1 egg slightly beaten with 1 T milk * 1 T cinnamon Pour water into a small bowl and sprinkle with yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar. Stir. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes or until yeast bubbles up and mixture doubles in volume. Combine 31/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, allspice and salt, then sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Make a hole in the center and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and using a hook attachment on the mixer or a wooden spoon slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in softened butter, 1 T at a time and continue to beat 2 minutes or until dough can be formed into a medium soft ball. With hook attachment, knead dough for 10 minutes on medium speed or place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. While kneading add up to 1 cup more flour (1 TB at a time) sprinkled over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 5 minutes more until shiny and elastic. Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one T softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl and place in a warm spot for about 1-1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down with a heavy blow. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and form dough into a long rope. Pinch ends together to form a large circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in warm spot for 45 minutes until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. Hide your trinket in the cake from the bottom. Icing: * 3 cups confectioner's sugar * 1/4 cup lemon juice * 3–6 T water * natural food colorings (green, purple and yellow) Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 TB water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Divide icing and color with food coloring, stirring well. Spread icing over top of cake. Ice cake in alternate colors, about 2 sections each color. Here is how it looks when it's finished: I will also try to post pics when I make mine, which will be sometime before Mardi Gras.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2010 9:36:35 GMT
There was mention of this by casimira, I think, one or two weeks ago but not in the food area. Frankly, I am surprised that I never heard of or saw these things when I was growing up in the region. Perhaps they do not generally cross the Louisiana border.
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Post by spindrift on Feb 8, 2010 9:45:24 GMT
Yummy cake. Great colouring. This is the first time I've heard of a King Cake. Thanks spaceneedle.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 8, 2010 9:46:11 GMT
K, I know they used make them in the So. part of Mississippi too... and of course here ;D But I think it's a Catholic thing too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2010 10:11:50 GMT
Thanks for the recipe SN! You better get moving,Mardi Gras,Carnival Day,is one week from tomorrow! There's a whole discussion of King Cakes and origins in LOCAL COLOR thread in Waterfront Park,I believe it's page 2. HW would remember,he knows all about the King Cakes
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 8, 2010 12:21:04 GMT
A very similar cake, but decorated very differently, is made in Mexico for El Día de Los Tres Reyes. (Three Kings Day). The date is about a month earlier than Mardi Gras, but the cakes are widely sold even before Christmas. The date was the 6th of January. I don't know if the date is moveable. The persons getting the babie(s) then have to host a tamal supper for the other guests, on El Día de la Candelaría, which just took place on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Here, at least, in our pueblo, there's a big thing about dressing male baby dolls in new clothes and taking them to the fiesta. My Mexican Holiday iCalendar says it represents the presentation of the baby Jesus at the Temple. A friend and I did a photo blog a couple of years ago. It's about a fabulously artistic bakery in Morelia,El Horno de Los Ortiz, and their Roscas de Reyes. (King's Cakes.) mexkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/11/el-horno-de-los-suenos.htmlClick the slideshow at the bottom of the article for larger views of the photos.
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Post by lagatta on Feb 8, 2010 17:03:05 GMT
Nowadays most people here simply buy a Galette des rois in a pastry shop or even the pastry counter of a supermarket, as the flaky pastry frangipane type has become more common than a type easy to make at home. I think that in times past it would have been more similar to the Louisiana King Cake. One of the traditional recipes I've found is a very similar brioche.
A brioche with candied fruit is also the traditional Epiphany cake in Provence.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 8, 2010 17:50:15 GMT
That is a lovely recipe, Spaceneedle! That one or one for brioche would make a much nicer king cake than some of the gummy commercial ones that are so ubiquitous.
As Don Cuevas points out above, the king cakes here are eaten @ Epiphany, not all the way through to the Lenten season. In Oaxaca, at least, they are pan de yema, or "yolk bread", an eggy, airy loaf that is traditionally eaten with the local hot chocolate.
Re: Feb. 2, the presentation of Jesus in the temple ~~ the little images are dressed in an amazing variety of costumes, ranging from baptismal gowns to clothing representative of other saints (little dark Jesuses dressed as St. Martin de Porres, for instance) to mariachi and wrestlers. One of my brothers refers to these as "Village People Jesus".
From Wikipedia: "In Southern and Central Mexico, and Guatemala City, Candlemas (Spanish: Día de La Candelaria) is celebrated with Tamales. Tradition indicates that on January 5, the night before Three Kings Day (the Epiphany), whoever gets one or more of the few plastic or metal dolls (originally coins) buried within the Rosca de Reyes must throw a party on Candlemas.[citation needed] In certain regions of Mexico, this is the day in which the baby Jesus of each household is taken up from the nativity scene and dressed up in various colorful, whimsical outfits."
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Post by lola on Feb 8, 2010 19:46:30 GMT
Thanks, space. I'm glad to have an authentic grandma recipe. I made one a couple of yrs ago for a 12th Night party, internet recipe. I told the people who got the bean that they had to throw the next year's party, but they must have forgotten.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2010 20:11:34 GMT
They just didn't invite you.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2010 20:42:24 GMT
mmmmm....they look good, spaceneedle. thanks for the recipe, I think I might try it.
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Post by hwinpp on Feb 9, 2010 2:10:23 GMT
I don't think I'll ever forget what a king cake is... thanks to Casi's very vivid photo...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2010 10:49:36 GMT
K, I know they used make them in the So. part of Mississippi too... and of course here ;D But I think it's a Catholic thing too. King cake tradition is so ingrained into the culture here that it knows no religious,ethnic,etc. boundaries. There are even Kosher King Cakes. Perhaps it's origins are Catholic related because of the whole pre Lenten feast thing but that has become lost,a long,long time ago. There is a King cake "contest" today at the Farmer's Market here. Over a dozen local bakeries competing. If the rain lets up,I plan on going anyway. Will take pics and post.(give HW a real eyeful!! ;D).
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Post by bjd on Feb 9, 2010 13:08:19 GMT
When Casimira posted her picture of that, um, vividly coloured cake a while back, I hadn't realized that it was related to the galette des rois, eaten here on January 6, but now available during the whole month. There are various kinds here -- as mentioned above, but I have never seen any with icing on them, and especially nothing purple or green.
Come to think of it, French cakes generally don't have icing.
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Post by lagatta on Feb 9, 2010 13:10:42 GMT
Suppose it is Catholic in that France was a predominantly Catholic country, but I've never associated the cake with religion - although obviously Epiphany is from the Christian Gospel. In Paris, it was a Moroccan friend of Muslim background who brought us a nice galette - and a bottle of champagne so he is not a fundamentalist to put it mildly - and at least one of the other friends was Jewish (and equally secular, hey this is France).
What I wonder is how it became served so much later in the season than "Les Rois" (Epiphany) in NOLA.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 9, 2010 21:10:37 GMT
I started on the cake last night. I decided to make it a bit different this year. When my mom makes her version of the cake, she rolls the dough out and spreads the praline out and then rolls it up. That's what I did this time. I took some photos but will post them when I finish. I wrapped the finished product very carefully and put it in the freezer. Will decorate this weekend.
Also the recipe I posted is a hybrid of the one from my grandma and some I've found elsewhere. My grandma's cooking was tricky because she didn't always use recipes... it was "a pinch of this" or "a dash of that" with her, so it was often hard to tell how much of something to use.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 9, 2010 21:11:24 GMT
Also if anyone wants a killer red velvet cake recipe, I have one of those too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 8:59:44 GMT
I'll have to think if there's anybody that I want to kill.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 9:51:05 GMT
Also if anyone wants a killer red velvet cake recipe, I have one of those too. I had never heard of this cake until I moved to the South. I think there are a couple of other threads on here where this would fit right nicely SN. Your Grandmother's recipe for King cake does seem to follow more closely to the brioche like cakes of yesterday that some of the older bakeries here adhere to. The commercial King Cakes available at the groceries and ones like the abomination I posted are horrid,gummy affairs. If I were to break down and bake one ( : ,I would use your recipe. Thanks,will consider,should this phenomena occur in the ensuing days until Carnival day.(5 and counting )
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 12, 2010 1:11:43 GMT
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 12, 2010 1:51:49 GMT
I'll have to think if there's anybody that I want to kill. ;D
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Post by lagatta on Feb 12, 2010 2:04:22 GMT
I see the "bean" (or l'il baby Jesus) is just hidden under the icing? Usually I've had it cooked into the cake.
The one you've made isn't too lurid. The original one on your post was a bit frightening.
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Post by lola on Feb 12, 2010 4:00:38 GMT
I've got to try that, space. Thanks.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 12, 2010 5:06:23 GMT
I see the "bean" (or l'il baby Jesus) is just hidden under the icing? Usually I've had it cooked into the cake. The one you've made isn't too lurid. The original one on your post was a bit frightening. If you look at the photo, I've carved a little peice out of the cake. I then place the baby inside and replace the little peice I carved out and then frost over it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2010 5:49:16 GMT
Looks good!
(You might want to resize photo #4.)
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Post by hwinpp on Feb 12, 2010 7:06:34 GMT
Looks a bit like a giant donut.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 12, 2010 19:48:59 GMT
I also forgot to mention that I used brown sugar and white sugar for the "filling" before I rolled it up along with the nuts. I had my mom coaching me on the phone so it was sort of an experiment by the time it was all over.
And yes hwinpp, it does look like a donut!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 13, 2010 18:34:58 GMT
I just received a Valentine's day message from The Mighty, Mighty New Orleans Dead Friends Society on Facebook. As I paged through the photos, I came across the Mackenzie's Bakery king cake recipe. I used to live over the Mackenzies on Oak & Dublin, which had a donut factory behind it. The smell of donuts wafting through the apartment on hot days, and the icky cardboard barrels with dough stuck to them insured that I'd never eat donuts again. But that was in another country, and besides, Mackenzies is dead. Given a choice, I'm sure I'd choose Spaceneedle's cake. From Facebook: McKenzies Bakery King Cake Recipe The old McKenzie’s Bakery on Prytania Street is now The Creole Creamery ice cream shop, but they’ve kept the McKenzie sign on the building for nostalgia. McKenzie's Bakery, a New Orleans tradition for over 70 years, closed in 2001. There was a time when McKenzie's was the most popular bakery in the city and there were 47 locations to choose from. But in May, 2000, the Entringer family announced that they were closing the business. New Orleanians breathed a sigh of relief when a new owner appeared with a plan to re-open some of the stores. Unfortunately, the new owners filed bankruptcy the same year and McKenzie's bakeries are no more. However, Tastee Donuts bought the recipe for McKenzie's king cakes and now produces the cakes in all of their local outlets. McKenzie’s King Cake 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup milk 1 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 2 eggs 4 cup flour FILLING: 1/2 king cake recipe1 6 oz cherry, apple or apricot pie filling 8 oz cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoon flour 2 egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 dried bean yellow, green purple sugars Mix the yeast with the warm water. Stir 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the flour into the yeast and set aside. By the time you have measured the other ingredients, the yeast should start bubbling. Bring the milk to a boil and stir in the butter and the sugar. Pour into a large bowl; the mixture should be lukewarm. Beat in the egg yolks, whole eggs and the yeast. Beat in approximately 2 cups of flour, until the dough is fairly smooth, then gradually add enough additional flour to make a soft dough that you can form into a ball. Knead it, until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a bowl, turn the dough once or twice in it to grease it lightly all over, cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size - about 1 1/2 hours. Pat dough down and cover the bowl with a damp towel, plastic film over that and refrigerate until the next day. This recipe makes enough dough for two king cakes. Remove dough with floured hands, while it's firm and cold, shape into a long sausage shape. Using a floured roller on a floured surface, roll out the dough into a 30X9 rectangle about as thick as pie crust. Let the dough rest. Drain extra juice from pie filling. Mix the cream cheese with the sugar, flour, egg yolks and vanilla. Spoon an inch wide strip of fruit filling the length of the dough, about 3 inches from the edge. Spoon the cream cheese mixture alongside the fruit, about 3 inches from the other edge. Brush both sides of dough with egg wash. Insert the bean. * Fold one edge of dough over the cream cheese and fruit, then the other edge over. Gently place one end of the filled roll onto a large greased cookie sheet. Ease the rest of the roll onto the pan, joining the ends to form a circle or oval. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush again with egg wash and cut deep vents into the cake. Sprinkle with colored sugars. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or cake is well risen and golden. Cool before icing with confectioner's sugar mixed with enough water to make a spreadable paste and tinted purple, green and gold. * If using a plastic baby instead of the bean, insert it into the bottom of the cake after it is baked. * Make everyone aware that a bean or toy is in the cake. If serving to children you may want to wrap the bean or doll in foil making it large enough.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 13, 2010 20:51:09 GMT
I actually like that recipe bixa, I will try it next year!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 13, 2010 22:41:23 GMT
I like the recipe, Spaceneedle, but I wonder if it's the one Mackenzie's really used. I don't remember their king cakes as having any filling, for instance. Oh well, who cares if we wind up with a good usable recipe, right?!
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