King Cake

Ok, so I am a day late posting this but we did make and eat it on Fat Tuesday so that counts right??? In all my 42 years, I have NEVER eaten King Cake. I know, such a shame. I made up for it last night. I had the twins research Mardi Gras ( I have been on a research kick with the 2 of them lately) and I wanted to make something that would go along with it. What better than to get a King Cake recipe from than the man himself, Mr. Emeril Lagasse. Oh it was good, too. If you have never eaten at one of Emeril's restaurants, you REALLY need to do it. We have been to the one at City Walk in Oralando a couple of times. Oh so good...But I digress. My little sweetie girl decided that she wanted to make it herself so, by all means, I turned the kitchen over to her. This was her interpretation of Emeril's King Cake.

Not bad for a 12 year old!

Ingredients
1/2 C. Warm Water
2 Pkgs. Dry Yeast (or 4 1/2 Tsp. of jarred yeast)
2 Tsp. Sugar
4 to 5 C. Flour (I used hard white wheat)
1/2 C. Sugar-yes more sugar
2 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 Tsp. Grated Lemon Peel
1/2 C. Warm Milk
1/2 C. Melted Butter, cooled
5 Egg Yolks
1/2 C. Finely Chopped Candied Citron (once I looked this up I realized I didn't have any so I left it out)
I also left out the little baby you are supposed to hide in the cake. Didn't want broken teeth to ruin the fun!

Glaze:
2 C. Sifted Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp. Water
Green, Purple and Gold Sugar Crystals

Combine the warm water, yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside to a warm place for about 10 minutes. Combine the 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, nutmeg, lemon rind and add warm milk, melted butter, egg yolks and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place the dough in a well-greased bowl. Turn once so greased surface is on top.

Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch the dough down and place on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with the citron and knead until the citron is evenly distributed. Shape the dough into a cylinder, about 30 inches long. Place the cylinder on a buttered baking sheet. Shape into a ring, pinching ends together to seal.  Press the King Cake Baby into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough. Cover the ring with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown.  Allow the cake to cool. For the glaze: Combine the ingredients and beat until smooth. To assemble, drizzle cake with the glaze. Sprinkle with sugar crystals, alternating colors. Cut into the cake and hope you do not get the baby. This really tasted good heated up. I, however, couldn't wait so I ate it cold and thoroughly enjoyed it :)