Everything but the baby…
I always loved going to Baton Rouge and going by Gambino’s on our way home from Mike’s folks’ house. This time of year, they’d have these huge racks all in the bakery filled with all manner of king cakes. How I loved wandering through and picking flavors.
Before we had kids, we’d get their praline king cake… oh, my gosh, just thinking about it makes me a little woozy. But, with the nut allergies, we had to cut that out with the kids. Enter the brownie filled king cake. Again, amazing.
But in all honesty, I like the plain ones, too. Simple cinnamon bread with a creamy icing and super fine colored sugars. But, alas, we can’t so much get them here in Florida.
So I made one of my own. And it was good! Now, the icing needs work, and the only sugars I had were pastel, but it was good anyway.
Here’s the recipe (from Weekend Getaways) with a few modifications…
1 c milk @ room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pkgs active dry yeast (I used rapid rise.)
1/3 c granulated sugar (I substituted Splenda.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 c shortening (I used butter.)
2 eggs, beaten
4 c all-purpose flour
Cinnamon sugar
Put the milk in a small bowl and add the flavoring. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and set aside for a few minutes until foamy. (**With the rapid rise, follow the directions on the yeast package.) In a large bowl, cream well together the sugar, salt, and shortening. Add the beaten eggs and continue creaming. Blend in the yeast mixture and add the flour slowly, kneading constantly until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 10 minutes. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half or until double in size.(Again, follow the yeast package directions if using the rapid rise.)
Roll the dough out in a rectangular shape and brush the surface with vegetable oil. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. (I made a paste of butter, cinnamon and Splenda brown sugar and spread that all on the dough.) Seal in the sugar by folding the dough in half lengthwise. Cut the dough into three even strips, sealing the edges, and then braid the strips together. Form the braided dough into a circle and let it rise until double in size.(Ok, come on, I did not braid anything. I made a big circle with the dough and called it a day).
Preheat the oven to 370 degrees and bake until brown.
I got the icing recipe from What We’re Eating, but I must have done something a little odd since mine wasn’t thick enough.
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp milk
pinch o’ salt
As for the colored sugars on top, I took the easy way out and used colored sugars that I already had. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself.
Filed under 101 Things in 1001 Days, Recipes | Permalink |Tagged with: 101 Things • Gambino's • king cake
2 Responses to “Everything but the baby…”
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Can you belieive I have never heard of King cake! I will have to try your recipe.
Your Cake is beautiful. And E is just as sweet as can be!
Oh, goodness, I’ll have to tell you all about king cakes one day! And thanks, I thought it turned out really well. And thanks, again. She is sweet.
Dude! That looks SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!
I have never heard of a king cake before. Looks awesome though and sounds darn tasty. I will have to try this.
I guess you really have to be from Louisiana or one of the other Gulf states to have heard of a king cake. I grew up in Arkansas and didn’t know what they were until I moved to Louisiana. One day soon, I’ll post about the history.