Three more days till King Parties!

Ok, my colors are a bit off and I was fresh out of throws but what a great concept. Have a party, some really good food, great wine and ... a really tasty cake with a prize! The best part is that whoever gets the prize is the king or queen of the party (all perks inherent therewith). I love it, love it, love it. And as if it couldn't get any better, the new "queen" hosts the next party (or simply makes the next cake). And the parties (and cakes) don't stop until fat Tuesday. How sweet is that?

King Cakes are intended to look like royal crowns (you can see it in mine if you squint real hard) and can be quite ornately decorated with vibrant purple, green and gold colored sugars and surrounded by Mardi Gras beads (throws) and/or "gold" coins. The structure of King Parties can be as formal or informal as you like, but the one thing that has to remain the same is the cake with the prize! King Cake is yummy, festive and can be quite frustrating to make if you don't have a stand mixer. Recipes for this delicious cinnamon infused bread with or without fillings and frostings abound. The one I made is a traditional brioche dough with a delicious pecan filling and bourbon glaze.

Cinnamon Pecan King Cake Recipe

Brioche:
1 envelope (2.5 tsp) active dry yeast
2 Tbsp warm water (105 to 115 F)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup milk (room temp)
2 tsp orange zest, finely minced
2 cups whole grain pastry flour
1 tsp fresh ground cinnamon (grind cinnamon sticks in a clean coffee grinder)
2 eggs (room temp), beaten
1 1/4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 egg beaten and 2 Tbsp water
1 plastic prize trinket

Pecan filling:
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped and toasted until fragrant
2/3 cups sucanat or brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup organic raw agave or pure maple syrup

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp bourbon
water (enough to make a thick paste that can be drizzled)

Colored Sugar:
granular sugar
food coloring (purple [red +blue], green [blue +yellow] and gold [yellow])

Place yeast and warm water in the bowl of stand mixer (run some hot tap water over the bowl before using it so it doesn't affect the temp of your yeast); allow to rest until frothy (about 8 minutes).

Mix salt, sugar, orange zest and milk in a small bowl; when sugar is dissolved (and the milk is room temp so it doesn't startle your yeast) pour into stand mixer bowl with the yeast.

Mix the cinnamon with the flour.

With the mixer on low speed, using the dough hook attachment, add the two beaten eggs, then gradually add all the flour. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. If too sticky, add a bit more flour. With the dough hook still turning, incorporate the butter into the dough, a little at a time but no so slow that the butter melts.

Turn the dough into a buttered bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot (I like to use the oven with just the pilot light on). When the dough has doubled in size (about 2 hours) punch it down, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Prepare pecan filling by combining all the listed ingredients.

Roll the dough out to a 6 x 18 inch rectangle. If dough is too stiff, let it rest to come closer to room temp. If dough gets too soft, put it in the fridge for a bit. Spread the filling in the middle of the of the dough, leaving about and inch on each side. Place the trinket somewhere with the filling. Fold the dough over lengthwise and seal seam. Then make the roll nice and tight placing the seam side down. Take the ends and tuck one inside the other (to make an oval shape) and pinch the seam and smooth the seal. Place on a baking sheet and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap or a towel, for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Brush the cake with eggwash (one egg beaten with 2 tsp of water). Bake for 30 minutes or until uniformly browned.

Let the cake cool fully before decorating (warm sugar gets too mushy). Brush cake with a bit of glaze thinned out with cold water so your decorative sugars have something to stick to. Decorate with the colored sugars (purple, green and yellow) as desired and drizzle some thicker glaze on top of the colored sugar.