Mardi Gras King Cake

I started this post several days ago!  But, it's been a long week, and I haven't had much extra time.  It's good to be back to blogging!

Since the Academy Awards were last weekend, my friend, BLC, tagged me in her blog in her "Film Festival" post about her five favorite movies.  (BLC has the greatest blog with tons of fun posts!!)  So, since I've been tagged, I now get to post my five favorite movies!
1. Childhood Must:  Home Alone
2. Chick Flick:  Pride and Prejudice
3. Husband Approved:  Sherlock Holmes
4. True Story:  The Blind Side
5. Holiday:  The Family Stone

Now I'm tagging The Baggetts, Bookworm to Bombshell, Katie Bird Calling, and The Richardsons to share their five favorites!! 

The King's Speech seemed to come out on top at the Academy Awards this year.  Kent and I are going to see it tonight, and I can't wait!  So, in honor of The King's Speech, I decided to post the king cake recipe that I used recently.  We had our Supper Club over for dessert after dinner at La Paz the other night.  I'd seen a lot of Mardi Gras decorations lately and decided it was time for a king cake.  I couldn't find a baby to put in it, but it still tasted good!

Mardi Gras King Cake - makes 2 cakes
(Preparation time: 5 1/2 hours)
Ingredients:
1 stick butter plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup warm water (103-110 degrees)
4 eggs
2/3 cup 99% fat-free skim evaporated milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
2 teaspoon salt
2 pkg. dry yeast
6 cups flour

Directions:
In a saucepan, melt 1 stick butter, milk, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt.  Cool to lukewarm.  In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 tablespoon sugar, yeast, and water.  Let stand until foaming, about 5 - 10 minutes.  Beat eggs into yeast; then milk mixture and rinds.   Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, reserving 1 cup of flour for kneading surface.  Knead dough until smooth, about 5 -10 minutes.  Place in large mixing bowl greased with 1 tablespoon butter, turning dough once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Filling:
Mix sugars and cinnamon and set aside:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 stick butter, melted
2 plastic babies

When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half.  On a floured surface, roll half of the dough into a thin log and bring the ends together to make an oval.  Push down the dough to make it flat (about 3 inches wide).  Brush with melted butter, leaving the edges dry.  Sprinkle the buttered part of the batter with the sugar mixture.  Then bring the edges of the cake together so that the sugar mixture is enclosed in the center.  Repeat with the other half of the dough for form the second cake.

Place each cake on a 10x15 baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled - about one hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from pan.  While warm, place one plastic baby in each from underneath.

Topping:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of milk
1 cup sugar, colored (1/3 cup each of yellow, purple, and green)

Tint sugar by mixing a few drops food coloring into the sugar until desired color is reached.  Mix the powdered sugar and the milk together - you may need to add more powdered sugar or more milk to reach the right consistency.  You're going to drizzle this on the cake, so you want the mixture to be thin enough to drip down the sides a little, but thick enough to stay mostly on the cake.  Then sprinkle with the sugars alternating between colors.