New Orleans King Cake is a quintessential confection decorated in Mardi Gras Colors. Purple signifies justice, green denotes faith, and gold or yellow signifies power.
Traditionally, a tiny plastic baby is hidden in the King Cake. Whoever, ends up with the baby is named “King” for a day and bound by custom to host the next party and provide the King Cake.
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The Annual Experiment
New Orleans King Cake is an annual tradition in our house. Every year, I experiment with a different variation of the bread dough.
Sometimes, I use a cream cheese cheese-based filling, and other times, it's more of a sugar/cinnamon filling. Sometimes I'll form the cake in one big circle and other times, I'll form the cake using cinnamon rolls.
However I approach making the king cake, the one constant is using the bread machine to make the dough.
This year's king cake is probably the best I've ever made. Like you, I learn from my successes and failures!
For this king cake, I used an adaptation of King Arthur's Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls which was the 2021 Recipe of the Year. What intrigued me about the King Arthur recipe was the Japanese technique called tangzhong.
The tangzhong method adds a small amount of flour to milk and cooks until a paste forms. When the paste is added to the remaining ingredients of a yeast bread, the result is a super-soft bread that stays moist for several days.
I have to say that I was skeptical about this because the recipe used a significantly higher ratio of liquid to flour. However, the result was amazing.
The king cake was much softer than past king cakes that I've made. In addition, the dough was a dream to work with.
Let me take you on my journey for this year's New Orleans King Cake.
Here's How I Made the Tangzhong
For the tangzhong, I whisked together 4 ½ tablespoons of bread flour and ¾ cup of milk in a small saucepan.
I heated the mixture over medium heat until a paste formed that was thick enough for a spoon to leave a line on the bottom of the pan. This took about 5 minutes on my electric stove.
Here's How I Made the Dough
Once the flour/milk paste was made, I added it to the pan of my bread machine along with more milk, butter, sugar, salt, bread flour, and bread machine yeast.
I set the bread machine on the dough cycle and walked away.
Here's How I Made the Cinnamon Sugar Filling
While the bread machine was making the dough, I made the filling. I used light brown sugar, ground cinnamon, bread flour, unsalted butter, and sea salt.
First, I whisked together the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and salt until well combined. Then, I added the melted butter.
I stirred the mixture until the butter was fully incorporated.
Here's How I Formed the King Cake
Now comes the fun part - actually forming the King Cake
- When the dough cycle finished, I transferred the dough from the bread machine to a floured piece of parchment paper. I was amazed at how soft and supple it felt.
- I rolled the dough into roughly a 28 x 10-inch rectangle.
I was amazed at how easily the dough rolled out. Unlike dough that generally springs back when rolled, this dough offered very little resistance.
Using a pizza cutter, I trimmed the dough on all sides.
- Then, I spread the cinnamon/sugar filling on the dough, leaving about an inch free on all sides.
- Starting on one of the long sides, I rolled the dough into a tight log (Photo 1). Then, I pinched the other long side into the log to produce a seal (Photo 2)
Next, I formed the log into a circle and tucked the ends together. After that, I brushed the king cake with an egg wash (Photo 3) and cut slits on the top all the way around (Photo 4).
Baking the King Cake
To allow the king cake to rise a bit, I warmed my electric oven by turning it on for exactly 1 minute and 45 seconds.
Then, I placed the king cake in my oven for about 20 minutes. I knew from experience that I didn't want it to rise too much at this point. The majority of the rising occurs when I bake the king cake.
I popped the king cake into a preheated 350°F oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, it was golden brown and perfectly cooked.
I removed the king cake from the oven and transferred the king cake to a wire cooling rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.
Here's How I Made the Cream Cheese Icing
I made the cream cheese icing while the king cake was in the oven. In addition to cream cheese, I used confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract.
I also had purple, green, and yellow food glitter on hand to sprinkle on top of the king cake and a little plastic baby.
I added the confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract to a bowl and beat it on high until it was creamy and smooth.
Here's How I Decorated the King Cake
I let the king cake cool for about 10 minutes before decorating it with cream cheese icing and sprinkled on purple, green, and yellow food glitter.
I didn't bake the plastic baby in the king cake because I was concerned about it melting. Rather, I placed it on the outside.
As I said at the beginning of this post, this year's king cake is probably the best I've ever made! It is the best I've ever made. You should try it. Laissez les bons temps rouler. Yum!
Other New Orleans King Cake Recipes
If you're a fan of the New Orleans King Cake, you might be interested in these recipes:
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Recipe
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King Cake (Bread Machine)
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- ¾ cup (6 ounces) milk (See Note 1)
- 4 ½ Tablespoons (1.2 ounces) bread flour
King Cake Dough
- Tangzhong
- 1 cup (8 ounces) milk
- 6 Tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 3 cups (15 ounces) bread flour
- 1 Tablespoon bread machine yeast (See Note 2)
Filling
- ¾ cup (5.625 ounces) light brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons bread flour
- 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2-½ cups (10 ounces) confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Purple, green and yellow food glitter
Instructions
Tangzhong
- Whisk together ¾ cup milk and 4 ½ tablespoons bread flour in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until a paste forms, about 5 minutes. The Tangzhong is ready when a spoon leaves a line in the pan. Allow to cool slightly.
King Cake Dough
- Add the cooled tangzhong and the remainder of the dough ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and start the machine.
Filling
- Whisk together the brown sugar, bread flour, cinnamon, and salt until combined. Add melted butter; stir to thoroughly combine. Set aside.
Icing
- Beat cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
King Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- When the dough cycle is finished, remove the dough and roll it out to a 10×28-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Trim the edges as needed. Spread the cinnamon/sugar mixture on the dough to within 1 inch of the edges.
- Starting at one of the long edges, roll the dough tightly into a 28-inch log. Pinch the edges to seal the log. Place the rolled log onto the prepared baking sheet, seam side down, and form the dough into a ring. Moisten the ends of the dough with a little water; pinch the two ends together to seal.
- Brush king cake with egg wash. Using a sharp knife, slash the top of the king cake to allow for steam to excape. Let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the king cake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Remove the king cake from the oven, and cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. While the cake is still warm, spoon the icing onto the king cake, allowing it to dribble down the sides of the cake. Immediately, sprinkle purple, green and yellow food glitter on the cake.
- Yield: One King Cake
Tips/Notes
- I used whole milk for the Tangzhong. The fats and proteins in milk contribute to a softer, richer crumb. In a pinch, you could substitute low-fat milk or water. Both will still create the gel-like consistency needed for Tangzhong but won't provide the same level of tenderness or richness.
- You could also use instant yeast in this recipe. However, active dry yeast is not the same as instant or bread machine yeast. Active dry yeast needs to bloom before being used.
Becky says
Do you have instructions for this recipe without using a bread machine?
Many thanks!
Chula King says
Becky,
Unfortunately, I've only made this with a bread machine. However, because it's a basic yeast dough, you could certainly use a different method that you're familiar with such as a stand mixer or a food processor.
Chula
Ricky says
Tangzhong is actually a Chinese term. Yudane is the Japanese version!
Chula King says
Yikes! Thanks so much Ricky for letting me know about this.
Chula
Allie Orange says
Hi, Chula,
After seeing your recipe for King Cake in our paper on Thursday, I came out here and see this version as well. Both look very intriguing, especially the one using Tangzhong which is new to me. Now I have two questions:
Could you use the dough from this recipe with the cream cheese filling?
Could this be made in a 12-cup bundt pan. I have seen one other recipe using a yeast dough in a bundt pan to make a king cake and they rolled it to 18” x 14”, which has similar overall area to your 28” x 10” (252” to your 280”). I know it is not traditional, but I love the bundt look. Thanks for any suggestions. Love your recipes!
Chula King says
Hi Allie,
Actually, the dough using the Tangzhong technique is a dream to work with, and stays moist longer than the regular type dough. I went back and forth as to whether I should that recipe!
You could definitely use the cream cheese filling with the Tangzhong dough. You could also make the king cake in a 12-cup bundt pan!
Let me know how it turns out.
Chula