“Recipe for traditional Mardi Gras king cake”

Recipe for traditional Mardi Gras king cake

Fat Tuesday is March 8, the day before Ash Wednesday, and just over a week away.

However, the Mardi Gras celebration has begun, and one of the traditional foods of the fest is king cake.

Pastry chef Jean-Luc Albin certainly can turn out a delicious traditional king cake — one with a premium brioche dough, rich with butter and eggs. But these days it's his inspired variations on that classic that he's most passionate about.

His Bourbon Street king cake, for example, with chocolate custard, bourbon and toasted pecans. Or there is his General Foster king cake with a banana's Foster-type filling; the Woodlawn Plantation, with praline cream and Southern Comfort; or even the Pontchartrain, filled with Bavarian cream custard, sliced strawberries, almonds and whipped cream.

"Every year I do something a little different, something new," Albin says. "It makes things interesting.

Interesting, and perhaps unrecognizable to those first French settlers who brought the annual Mardi Gras celebration — as well as its king cake — to Louisiana 300 years ago.

Traditional versions are a simple circle of buttery dough spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with a sugar icing.

And while those still represent the dominant king cake, each year sees more variations as bakers pump them full of fruits, cheeses, chocolate and other flavors.

"The filled king cake trend started in the 1970s," says Liz Williams, president of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans. "People wanted things that were sweeter and sweeter, and bakers wanted to be different. Before that king cakes looked the same and were pretty much the same."

These days, at least two dozen flavors and fillings are readily available. In addition to most fruits, you also can get such exotic flavors as praline, cream cheese and almond paste.

King Cake

For the dough:

• 1 cup warm milk
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 egg yolks, room temperature
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon instant or fast-acting yeast
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

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For the filling:

• ½ cup raisins
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ cup chopped toasted pecans
• For the decoration:
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup lemon juice

Purple, green and gold colored sugars

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the milk, sugar, zest, eggs, egg yolks and butter.

With the mixer running on the lowest setting, add the nutmeg, salt, yeast and 5 cups of the flour. Mix until a dough comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of water; if it is too wet, add a couple tablespoons of flour. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.

Increase the mixer speed to 2 and knead for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small saucepan, combine the raisins and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Remove from the heat and let soak for 15 minutes. Drain the raisins, then transfer them to a kitchen towel and pat dry.

In a food processor, combine the raisins, cream cheese, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Pulse together until combined, then add the pecans and pulse just until incorporated.

When the dough has risen, coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a long rectangle, about 22-by-14-inches.

Spread the filling over the surface of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border along the edges. Roll the dough up into a tight log starting with one of the long sides. Pinch the seam shut and turn until the seam is on the bottom.

Move the log onto the prepared baking sheet. Insert one end of the log into the other end to form a ring. Loosely cover and allow to rise until puffy and almost doubled in size, about 1 hour. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, in a medium bowl stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cooled king cake. Immediately sprinkle with the colored sugars before the icing begins to harden. Serves 16.