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King Cake

Traditional King Cakes are made with a trinket hidden inside the cake. Most commonly the trinket is a bean, a pea or a small plastic baby. Whoever finds the trinket in their slice is declared King or Queen of the Feast!

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Ingredients
Cake
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup water, warm
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup (2/3 stick) butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup Domino® Granulated Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, grated
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 dried bean or pecan half
Royal Icing
  • 4 cups Domino® Powdered Sugar
  • 3 tablespoons meringue powder
  • 1/3 cup warm water
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Instructions
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Cake
Step 1

In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand 5 minutes.

Step 2

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, bring milk just to a boil. Add butter, sugar and salt, stirring constantly until butter melts; let cool.

Step 3

At medium speed with electric mixer, beat butter mixture with eggs, vanilla and lemon rind. Stir in yeast. Reduce speed and gradually add flour, beating well after each addition, until a soft dough forms.

Step 4

Turn dough out onto lightly floured board; knead 8 minutes. Place dough in a large greased bowl; turn once. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; allow to rise in a warm place until double in bulk (up to 1 1/2 hours). Turn dough out onto lightly floured board; knead 1 minute.

Step 5

Divide dough into thirds. Place a bean or pecan half in one of the dough sections. Roll out each third of dough into a 30-inch length rope. Loosely braid the three dough strips from end to end. Form into a circle and seal ends.

Step 6

Place dough ring on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; allow to rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

Step 7

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Royal Icing
Step 1

Combine all ingredients together in mixing bowl. Beat on low speed with whip attachment until combined then increase speed to medium high and beat for 5 – 8 minutes, adding 2-3 tablespoons more warm water, as necessary. Icing should be stiff enough to hold a peak when tested. Use this thick icing to outline cookies.

Step 2

Put green, purple and yellow dyes in a separate bowls.  Divide royal icing to each bowl.  Mix until desired color is achieved.

Step 3

Use royal icing immediately.

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Zainab

Meet the Chef:

Zainab Storms

@aclassictwistblog

Zainab Storms is a baker, home chef, neuroscientist, world traveler, and mom. She's the creator of A Classic Twist, a blog dedicated to sharing everyday classic recipes with bold twists and flavors.