CREAM CHEESE KING CAKE
Major Key: King cake is basically brioche dough baked up like a cake. Make sure your yeast is active and that you give enough time to let the dough rise. Sometimes I throw a few tablespoons of alcohol into my filling and/or glaze. Especially when it's Fat Tuesday or Wednesday or any day that ends with D-A-Y!
INGREDIENTS
Dough
- 16 oz sour cream
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup water (warm)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 6 3/4 cup bread flour
Filling
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp Tastic spice sweet*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup pecans (finely chopped)
Glaze
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp butter (melted)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp milk
Other
- 3-4 tbsp purple sugar sprinkles
- 3-4 tbsp green sugar sprinkles
- 3-4 tbsp yellow sugar sprinkles
- A baby or two
Recommended Equipment
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Saucepan - medium
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Measuring cup
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Stand mixer
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Wire Rack
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Mixing bowls
DIRECTIONS
Dough
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Combine the sour cream, butter, salt, and 1/3 cup of sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat
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Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring until the butter melts and sour cream is no longer lumpy
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Remove from the heat and allow it to cool to a temperature of about 100F-110F
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Meanwhile, in a glass measuring cup, stir together the yeast, water, and 1 tbsp of sugar
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Let it stand for 5 minutes
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sour cream mixture, yeast mixture, 2 eggs, and 2 cups of bread flour
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Use the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed (I used speed 4) until it’s smooth, about one minute
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Gradually stir in 4 more cups of the bread flour until it forms into a dough
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Dust a work surface with 1/4 cup of the bread flour and turn the dough out
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Knead while adding up to another 1/2 cup of bread flour as needed until the dough is smooth and elastic (the dough should be tacky but still release easily from the work surface)
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Place the dough in a well-greased bowl and turn to cover with the grease
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Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size (about 45-60 minutes, depending on the air temperature)
Filling
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Meanwhile, prepare the filling by using the stand mixer with the whisk attachment to beat the cream cheese, sugar, brown sugar, Tastic, and vanilla until it’s smooth
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Beat in the egg
Form Cakes
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Once the dough has risen, gently punch it down and divide the dough in half, keeping one piece covered while working with the other
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On a lightly floured work surface, roll one piece of the dough out to a rectangle about 22×12 inches
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Spread half of the filling out over the dough leaving about 1/4″ around the edges
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Sprinkle the filling with half of the chopped pecans
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Starting with the long side, gently roll the cake and press the seam to seal
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Place the cake with the seam side down and carefully roll into a circle
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Press the edges together to seal. It may help to moisten the dough with a small amount of water to get it to stick together
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Repeat with the second piece of cake dough and remaining filling and pecans
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Cover the cakes and let them rise until they double in size (another 45-60 minutes)
Bake
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Preheat the oven to 350F
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Uncover the dough rings and bake them for about 25-30 minutes until they are a deep golden brown
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Let the cake rest on the pan for about 10-15 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling completely (about 1 1/2 hours)
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Meanwhile, bake the second cake if they didn’t both fit in the oven together
Glaze
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Once the cakes have cooled, prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, melted butter, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl until crumbly
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Stir in 3 tbsp of milk, adding more as needed until the glaze is thin and opaque
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Place a pan under the wire rack to catch the dripping and pour the glaze over the cake
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You can either cover the cake completely or pour it in small chunks, depending on what you want the final cake to look like
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Sprinkle the cake with alternating colored sugar
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If you are hiding a trinket in the cake, do that before serving by pressing it in from the bottom of the cake
* Tastic Spice is available HERE
Do me a favor? If you decide to be great and make this recipe, take a pic and share it on Instagram and tag me (@mrfoodtastic) and use the hashtag #mrfoodtastic so I can see just how amazing you are. I repost my favorite ones