From my (formerly) Louisiana lady friend:
Darcia's King Cake
Hopefully you have a bread machine. If you do, set it to manual, andthen load it in this order:
1 package quick rise yeast
3 1/4 C. flour (I use a combination of whole wheat and bread flour)
1 t. salt (I use lite salt)
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 egg (make a second king cake or rolls or loaves of bread using theother 1/2 or just put in the egg white instead)
a dash of oil or grease or crisco (olive oil or butter is fine)
1 C. water. May need to add a few more T. to make the dough the rightconsistency.
As soon as dough manual cycle is finished, roll the dough on a flouredsurface until it's about 1/2 thick or a bit thinner. Spread a thin layer ofreal butter of the bread, then some cinnamon and sugar, then toasted nuts (Ilike almonds best). Roll it up. Shape the roll into an oval on a greased cookiesheet. Score about 1/2 way through. Let rise to double its size (1-2 hrs in awarm, dry place). Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes and remove, and let coolcompletely on a rack. Insert the baby/babies now. Put the cool king cake on aserving plate. Decorate with purple, green and gold sugar. You may also glazewith a cup of powdered sugar, almond extract and milk or water to thin (I usewater).
Serve.
Succulent!
My bread dough is freely modified version of Tulsa public schools rollrecipe from my childhood. It makes a great roll or loaf of bread. The recipeneeds to be cut in half if you are dumb enough to like baking it directly inthe bread machine and like that freakishly thick crust that develops. If youdon't have a bread machine, you can check in a bread recipe for adapting theorder of adding ingredients. The dough needs to rise twice before shapingbegins.
