Enjoy cinnamon-swirled king cake for Mardi Gras
Treat is said to honor the three wise men who visited baby Jesus.
In Saving Southern Recipes, Southern Kitchen’s Kate Williams explores the deep heritage of Southern cooking through the lens of passed-down, old family recipes.
Said to honor the three kings, or wise men, who visited the baby Jesus on the 12th day of Christmas, versions of King Cakes have been eaten by Christians since at least the Middle Ages. According to Scientific American, this tradition was picked up not from ancient Christian elders, but from cakes eaten for the winter solstice celebration of Saturnalia: Cakes were made to celebrate the harvest and, according to Larousse Gastronomique, “During the Saturnalia the “king of the day” was chosen by lot, using a bean concealed in a galette. It was only in the Middle Ages that this cake ceremony began to be associated with the festival of Epiphany.”
As the tradition was adopted by Christians, the bean became symbolic of the baby Jesus (or a king, depending on who you ask), and, by the 1300s, the cake had become popular throughout France. While they were originally eaten just around the holiday of Epiphany, king cakes gradually became a season-long treat enjoyed up until the beginning of Lent.
It’s easy to forget that these cakes didn’t always come in varying shades of neon; they varied depending on the region from which they came. Northern French king cakes are, at least now, more often made from puff pastry and filled with an almondsugar mixture. Futher south in France, and into the Basque region of Spain, king cakes are made from brioche-like dough and filled with cinnamon and spices. It is this Southern-style cake that made its way to New Orleans in 1718.
CINNAMON SWIRL KING CAKE
This recipe is adapted from Anne Byrn’s “American Cake.” Byrn writes that you can adapt the filling to suit any of your favorite flavors, such as raisins, chopped nuts or even citrus zest. ¼ cup water, heated to 105 to
115 degrees
¼ cup milk, heated to 105 to 115
degrees
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided, plus more for greasing
2 tablespoons granulated sugar ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading the dough, divided 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup packed light brown
sugar
2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon
Make the dough: Lightly grease a large bowl with butter. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a second large bowl, stir together the water, milk and yeast. Cut in 8 tablespoons of the butter. Add the sugar, nutmeg and salt. Add 1 cup of the flour and blend well, smashing the butter against the sides of the bowl to mix it into the flour. Stir in the eggs and the remaining 2 cups flour. Mix well to form a soft dough.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured workspace and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the buttered bowl, turning the dough so that the entire ball is greased. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm location, and let rise until the dough has doubled in size, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter. Set aside.
Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a lightly floured counter and, with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 9- by 26-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar mixture, leaving about ½ inch of bare dough on the long edge furthest from you.
Beginning at the long end nearest to you, roll the dough up tightly, as for a jelly roll. Lightly blot the bare edge with water. Press and pinch firmly to seal. Carefully pick up the rolled dough and place it, seam side-down, on the prepared baking sheet. Bring together the two ends to make a 12-inch circle. Blot the ends with a little water and pinch together to seal. Use a sharp knife to slice open the middle of the circle all the way around, cutting through the layers and almost to the bottom of the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, place in a warm location, and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Once the dough has risen, bake until the cake is lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. If desired, insert a plastic baby figurine into the underside of the cake.
Slice and serve. Serves: 12 to 18
Per serving, based on 12: 304 calories (percent of calories from fat, 43), 5 grams protein, 39 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 15 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 72 milligrams cholesterol, 111 milligrams sodium.