King Cake (Kathleen Stancliffe from Althea Marino)

I'm not a fan of King Cake. I find them to be very dry cinnamon rolls. Each year we were in New Orleans, the Garcia's would host a large King Cake party where everyone would bring a store bought or homemade king cake and each year, Miss Kathleen Stancliffe would win the homemade one. I was always intimidated to make it, but this year I gave it a try. And I LOVE IT! Everyone loved it!

INGREDIENTS

3 packs yeast

2 C very warm water

1 C butter almost melted

1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

7-8 C flour (divided)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine 2 C of the flour, sugar, and salt in a LARGE mixing bowl. Soften butter in microwave to ALMOST melted stage and add VERY warm water and butter to the flour/sugar/salt mixture. Stir with wire whisk. Add 3 packs yeast (add it dry) and stir until dissolved. Add 1 egg at a time, mixing well after each one. Add 2 more cups of flour. Exchange wire whisk for spoon here (and rinse off whisk immediately to avoid hard, dried-on flour). Add enough more flour to make dough easy to handle (I usually add about 2 1/2 more cups), and then dump out onto floured counter and knead until flexible, but not hard.

Rinse out bowl, dry, and then oil it lightly with vegetable oil. PUt dough in bowl, cover with towel and let rise until it reaches the top of the bowl (sometimes this takes an hour; sometimes it takes 2-3 depending on how warm your house is.) Punch down dough (kids love to help with this part!), and let rest for about 10 minutes.

BROWN SUGAR/CINNAMON FILLING (My favorite)

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon to your taste (should taste more like cinnamon than brown sugar). Store in zip lock bag to keep from getting hard.

CHERRY, APPLE, STRAWBERRY, BLUEBERRY, RASPBERRY, or BLACKBERRY FILLING

1 can cherry pie filling (blended for 2 seconds in food processor) - not too long because you still want pieces of the fruit. She said her daughter tried blackberry and said it was delicious but didn't enjoy the seeds. She has tried frozen jam (has to be frozen when used) instead of canned pie filling and it is a fresher taste. Her friend uses the lemon pie filling and it's their favorite.

CONTINUE

Melt another stick of butter completely and stir well. Divide dough into 2 equal amounts. Roll out dough (this is tricky - use your sixth sense! - if it's too thin it will tear, if it's too thick, it won't work thoroughly - I just rolled it out about as flat as I would pizza dough). Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the rolled out dough into 3 pieces lengthwise. Using a pastry brush, "paint" melted butter on the 3 cut pieces.

For the brown sugar-cinnamon variety, generously sprinkle the brown-sugar mixture down the middle of each cut piece and spread just a little, then pat down and sprinkle a little bit of flour over the top. For the cherry or other fruit variety, spoon the briefly blended pie filling down the middle of each of the 3 cut strips. Spread slightly, but not too close to the edge. Be careful not to overfill because it tends to leak out when rising/baking. 

With the cherry and apple pie filling, I sprinkle some of the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture on top of the filling and then sprinkle a little flour on the top of that as well. Fold the short ends over just slightly and then fold the long ends in a tri-fold (like folding a letter) from the top down to the middle and then the bottom up and over the top. Bring the 3 pieces close together (don't be afraid of the dough!) Pick it up and gently swing it back down to the counter, giving it a little bit of a stretching as you do. Begin braiding in the middle; work to one end then go back to the middle and braid to the other end. 

Carefully place on huge cookie sheet (I did a big one on a regular cookie sheet and a small one in a pyrex glass dish), shape into oval or circle and pinch the ends together where they meet. Cover and let rise again. 

Bake at 350 degrees F for the 20 minutes (I always set a timer for 12 minutes and monitor until done). When cool, tuck small plastic baby wherever you want! Cool completely before frosting. I frost a small section at a time so the frosting won't dry out before sprinkling the sugar on top. Alternate the colored sugar (purple, green, yellow) Enjoy!

FROSTING

Soften 1 stick of butter. Add powdered sugar and milk alternately. Add about a teaspoon or two of vanilla to taste and pinch of salt. It usually takes 1/2 - 3/4 of a 2 lb bag of powdered sugar. Stir to desired consistency.

VARIATION

I use a cream cheese frosting for the cherry-filled and blueberry-filled (of any kind you choose) king cake. Blend a package of room temperature cream cheese with half a stick of butter, softened.Add powdered sugar a little bit at a time until the right consistency. I do not use vanilla or milk for this frosting unless it becomes a little too thick.

COLORED SUGARS

Pour 1 Cup of granulated sugar each into 3 ziplock bags. Add several drops of food coloring to get the desired color of sugar (the traditional Mardi Gras colors are purple/green/yellow); squeeze out air, zip bag and squish sugar until drops are mixed in with the sugar. Add more as needed.