How to Make Mardi Gras King Cake
No Mardi Gras celebration is complete without this delicious dessert! In this video, Nicole shows you how to make a homemade king cake (plastic baby included). Originating from the French settlers of Louisiana, king cake is a glittery and colorful round pastry that contains a sweet filling made from pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Once baked in the oven, top this cake with a creamy hand-whipped glaze. Whether it’s served at a party or shared with family, this king cake recipe will bring the sweet taste of Mardi Gras to your table.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:01 Let the good times roll, we're making king cake.
00:03 I have tried to make king cake on more than one occasion
00:06 and I have yet to make a successful king cake,
00:09 but today is the day.
00:11 First step is to scald your milk.
00:14 That means you heat it up just till there are bubbles
00:16 around the edges.
00:18 And to our scalded milk, I'm gonna add in our butter
00:21 and then the butter is going to melt and cool the milk down.
00:24 While that happens, we're going to grow our yeast.
00:28 So I've got some warm water and to that I'm gonna add in
00:31 a tablespoon of sugar, that's gonna feed the yeast
00:33 and then it's two packets of yeast.
00:35 Stir that together and let it grow or bloom
00:38 for about 10 to 15 minutes.
00:40 He has risen.
00:41 (laughing)
00:42 Now we start mixing the dough.
00:44 So I'm gonna pour all of this into our mixing bowl
00:47 and then I'm gonna add in our cooled milk and butter mixture.
00:50 Going in with more sugar, whisk that together
00:54 for a few seconds and now we're gonna start adding
00:56 in the flour, one cup at a time.
00:59 (mixer whirring)
01:00 Didn't mean to do that.
01:01 I have screwed up.
01:04 I was supposed to add the eggs earlier
01:06 and the salt and the nutmeg.
01:07 So in go the eggs, the salt and the nutmeg.
01:10 Back to business.
01:12 Now that it's come together to form a dough,
01:13 I'm gonna turn it onto a lightly floured surface
01:16 and continue to knead it until it's really smooth.
01:19 Earning that king cake.
01:20 We are there.
01:23 You always gotta do that.
01:25 So now I'm gonna place it into a lightly oiled bowl,
01:28 kinda give it a little swirl around.
01:30 Then you just wanna cover it up
01:31 with either like a damp, heavy dishcloth
01:33 or just some plastic wrap and let it go
01:35 for about an hour and a half.
01:37 While our dough rises, I'm gonna make the filling
01:39 so that when it's all ready,
01:41 it can come together at the same time.
01:43 I'm doing a classic, traditional king cake,
01:45 which is just a cinnamon, kinda brown sugar filling.
01:49 This recipe actually calls for nuts and raisins.
01:54 I do know better.
01:55 I'm not gonna have y'all yelling at me
01:57 about putting nuts and raisins in my filling.
02:00 I'm gonna start by mixing that brown sugar
02:03 with the flour and cinnamon
02:04 so that it stays evenly distributed
02:06 before I add in the melted butter.
02:08 Yes, that smells so good.
02:10 That is so satisfying.
02:14 The dough is ready and by the way,
02:16 this is going to make two king cakes.
02:19 So we're going to divide it into two pieces
02:22 and roll each one out into a 10 by 16 rectangle.
02:26 The filling kinda gets really thick and crumbly
02:29 and that's what you want.
02:30 You wanna kinda crumble it over the dough
02:32 and then kinda like press it in.
02:34 Okay, and then we roll it up
02:35 just like you would a cinnamon roll
02:37 and you get yourself a parchment lined
02:40 or greased baking sheet.
02:42 You just wanna be sure that your seam is at the bottom.
02:45 Okay, now you take some kitchen shears
02:47 and you're going to cut slits
02:49 that go about a third of the way down into the cake
02:52 and about one inch apart.
02:54 It only takes about 20 minutes to bake
02:57 and while that happens, I'm gonna make the frosting.
03:00 We know the colors of Mardi Gras.
03:03 Purple, gold or yellow in this case, and green.
03:07 This is just a combination of powdered sugar
03:10 with a little bit of milk
03:11 until you get it to your desired consistency
03:13 and then a little bit of food coloring.
03:15 Both cakes out of the oven.
03:17 While they're still warm,
03:19 you gotta put the baby Jesus in.
03:21 Now we ice and you gotta go in a pattern.
03:24 The colors and then coordinating sprinkles.
03:27 Now listen, I never claimed to be a baker or an artist.
03:32 Let's see, that's what's great about king cake
03:34 is it doesn't have to be perfect.
03:36 I think it's cute.
03:37 I don't care.
03:38 I can already tell you that's a perfect piece of king cake.
03:42 She did it, folks.
03:45 Here's the deal.
03:46 Unless you live in New Orleans,
03:47 you're probably not gonna get
03:49 a delicious, authentic king cake.
03:51 Use this recipe, make this king cake, you won't regret it.
03:55 Mardi Gras is coming up.
03:56 Mm-hmm.
04:00 I gotta earn this.
04:04 I gotta earn this king cake.
04:05 I don't know what you call this mood, though.
04:10 (laughing)
04:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]