King Cake in the Making!

Ok guys, I have not burned down the house yet, but I did get started on the king cake. I went down to my local Winn-Dixie and picked up all of the ingredients that I didn't already have at home. I arranged them all on the counter and picked up the recipe for review before I started. This is when I found out that the dough has to be made first and then sit overnight in the fridge. Great, I thought, since I wouldn't have to do this whole thing in one day. As I mentioned in my first blog, Gearing up for Mardi Gras, I am not an avid baker. I can bake cookies without burning them and that is about it, so this is a BIG undertaking for me.


I started by heating up some water to 115 degrees so that I could dissolve the yeast with it. It was suppose to stand until "frothy." Does that mean covered in bubbles? I wasn't sure so I called my Mama. She was a big help! When in doubt, CALL MAMA!!




Next I had to mix the salt, sugar and orange zest with milk and then add it to the yeast. I love my microplane. It is one of the coolest kitchen gadgets ever!







Then it came time for me to sift the flour and cinnamon together and beat 2 eggs. The eggs went into the mixer first and then the flour mixture. Adding the flour was an absolute mess. Yes, it was on low, but that did not keep it from flying all over the place.







While that was all kneading together in the mixing bowl, I got the cold butter out and diced it into small pieces. Then I added it slowly so it wouldn't heat up and melt while incorporating. It didn't take long and it all came together.






After transferring it to an oiled bowl and covering with plastic wrap, I let it rise for an hour. This is when I started to panic. I couldn't tell if it was rising so of course, I called Mama, again. She calmed me down and said to make sure it was in a warm place. I moved it to the top of the microwave and that did the trick.







When I was confident that it had risen enough, I punched it down in the center, covered it again and put it in the fridge. I have a question though, was the dough suppose to stick to my hand? Oh well...I'm sure I will find out tomorrow if it is going to work or not.





Wish me luck!! I'm going to knead it.....I know, corny....