Best Kings Cake Recipes

ROSCA DE REYES - THREE KINGS CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In large mixing bowl, cream together butter or margarine and powdered sugar.
• Add eggs and beat again, until light and fluffy.
• Combine dry ingredients, expect chopped nuts.
• Gradually add dry ingredients and vanilla to creamed mixture.
• Sprinkle nuts on bottom of lightly greased 9x5x4-inch loaf pan.
• Pour batter into pan.
• Bake at 350°F for 55 minutes, or until pick comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch.
• Cool 10 minutes; turn cake onto wire rack to cool.
• Insert dry bean or"baby" from the underside of the cake when cool.
• During the last minutes cake is cooking, melt brown sugar in heavy saucepan over low heat.
• Remove from heat and add ground anise and vanilla extract.
• Pour warm syrup over freshly baked, cooled cake.

MARDI GRAS KINGS CAKE (OPTIONAL BREAD MACHINE VERSION)

Steps:

• 1.Scald milk with lemon zest, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• 2.When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• 3.Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
• FOR BREAD MACHINE: Add liquid in bread machine. Add dry ingredients. Add yeast. Start dough procedure.
• 4.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
• 5.To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.
• 6.Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• 7.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Push the doll into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

TWELFTH NIGHT CAKE - KINGS CAKE- EPIPHANY NOT MARDI GRAS

Steps:

• Beast butter at medium speed until creamy; gradually add brown sugar, beating well.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
• Combine 3 cups of flour, baking soda, and mace.
• Gradually add to the butter mixture. Mix at a low speed just until blended.
• Combine remaining 1/4 flour slivered almonds, raisins, currants, citron, and lemon peel until coated evenly.
• Stir mixture into batter.
• Spoon batter into three greased and wax paper-lined 9-inch round cake pans. (Drop bean and pea at this time). Bake at 375 for 30-35 or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely.
• Spread apricot filling between layers of cake. Spread White Buttercream Forsting on top and sides. Decorate as desired.
• White Buttercream Frosting:.
• Combine water and meringue powder in a large bowl; beat at high speed until soft peaks form.
• Add 4 cups of confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating at low speed after each addition. Add remianing sugar alternately with shortening, beating after each. Stir in flavorings.
• Yields: 7 cups frosting for one 3-layer cake.

DREIKöNIGSKUCHEN / 3 KINGS' CAKE / EPIPHANY CAKE

Steps:

• Mix flour, sugar, salt and lemon in a bowl.
• Melt the butter and add the cold milk.
• Dissolve yeast in water and add two teaspoons of sugar.
• Stir the eggs and add flour mix of 1.
• Knead to a soft dough.
• Add sultanas and the token and distribute them evenly in the dough.
• Tear dough apart and form six or eight pieces the size of a fist. You may form one bigger piece as the center piece of the cake. Arrange the pieces around the center piece as shown in the picture above. Place the cake on a non-stick tray.
• Let grow in a warm place until the size has doubled.
• Let cool for about one hour.
• Before baking, sweep with the yolk of an egg.
• Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes in the lower part of the pre-heated oven at about 225°C (440°F).
• Let cool and add a crown made out of paper or card.

CAKE OF KINGS

Steps:

• Soak citrus peel, raisins, pine nuts and cherries in the sherry or brandy overnight until plump. Measure 140g/5oz of the fl our in a large mixing bowl and mix with the yeast. Tip the remaining flour and salt into a separate bowl and set aside. Heat the milk until just warm, make a well in the centre of the flour mix, and gradually add the milk to form a batter, beating until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 20 mins, until frothy.
• In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and zests until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Don't worry if it curdles, this won't affect the final cake. Stir the mix into the batter, along with the remaining flour, to make a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 mins, until smooth and elastic. Knead in the fruit mix, a bit at a time, kneading after each addition until evenly distributed. This bit is messy, but dust the dough and your hands with flour as you work.
• Pop the dough into a clean bowl and cover. Leave for 2 hrs, until doubled in size. Butter a large baking sheet. Knead the dough again briefly, then shape into a sausage, about 50cm long. Curl onto the baking sheet to make a ring, pinching the ends to join. Tuck the trinket under the cake, cover and leave for 1 hr, until doubled in size. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.
• Slice the candied fruits and crush the sugar lumps into small pieces (put them in a cup and use the end of a rolling pin). Brush the top of the ring with egg and decorate with candied fruits and sugar. Bake for 45 mins, then transfer to a wire rack and brush the top with jam. Leave to cool before cutting.

THREE KINGS' CAKE (GERMANY)

Steps:

• FOR THE CAKE ~ Put 1 1/2 cups of the flour (plus another 2 tablespoons of flour) into a bowl & make a hole in the middle. Into that hole put the yeast & mix it with a pinch of sugar & a bit of lukewarm milk.
• Dust the mixture with flour, then cover it with a cloth & let it rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
• Add the melted butter, salt, lemon, cardamom, 1 egg & egg white (the 2nd yolk is for another purpose), along with the remaining milk & flour, to the flour-&-yeast mixture, kneading the dough until it is smooth.
• When the dough begins to form a ball, stir in the raisins & dried fruit, then form the dough into a log.
• Cut off 1/4 of the log & divide that fourth into 4 equal parts, forming balls from each smaller part.
• Divide the ramaining log into 4 parts & form larger balls from each of those parts.
• Liberally grease a springform pan with a central tube, & place the dough into the pan, alternating large & small dough balls.
• Cover the pan & set it in a warm place so the dough will rise again.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small container beat the egg yolk to a smooth consistency.
• Brush the dough with the beaten yolk & place the filled pan in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
• Cool the cake thoroughly in the pan on a wire rack before removing it from the pan.
• FOR THE FROSTING ~ Mix the powdered sugar & lemon juice to an icing consistency (not too liquid) & ice the cake, decorating it with the cherries. In Germany, a small gold crown made of foil is often placed in the middle of the cake.