A fantastic cheese dip to offer at parties, get-togethers with friends, or even just when you’re watching football.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 king cake |
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (Optional)
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 (.25 ounce) package rapid rise yeast
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup Bulgarian-style buttermilk
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (Optional)
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 4 teaspoons corn syrup
- 4 teaspoons milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, or as needed
Instructions
- Mix 4 cups of flour, white sugar, yeast, and salt together in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Whisk 3 eggs in a separate bowl. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat and whisk buttermilk into melted butter; heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 120 degrees F (49 degrees C). Whisk buttermilk mixture into beaten eggs and cool the mixture to 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
- Beat egg mixture into flour mixture on medium-low speed to make a firm, elastic dough, about 10 minutes. If dough doesn’t separate from the sides of the mixing bowl during kneading, beat in 1/4 cup more flour.
- Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead for 1 minute; form into a ball and place into a buttered bowl, turning dough around to lightly coat with butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter the outer edge of an 8-inch cake pan.
- Stir cream cheese, 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and nutmeg in a bowl until filling is smooth.
- Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Roll dough into a 10×28-inch rectangle. Spread cream cheese filling over the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border along each edge. Lift an edge of the parchment paper sheet to roll dough into a log shape, starting at a 28-inch edge. Pinch seams closed to seal in filling, keeping roll on the parchment paper.
- Wrap the filled dough around the outside of the buttered 8-inch cake pan to form the dough into a ring; pinch the edges closed. Use parchment paper to lift the cake and cake pan and slide a baking sheet beneath the parchment. Gently free cake pan, leaving the ring-shaped cake. Whisk 1 egg with water in a small bowl; brush cake with egg wash.
- Bake king cake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cake cool.
- Stir 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, and milk in a bowl; mix in 1 teaspoon lemon juice, or amount needed to thin icing to a thick but slightly runny texture. Drizzle king cake with icing.
- Other optional ingredients include purple, green, and gold decorating sugar and 1 king cake baby, dried bean, or other tiny food-safe trinket. If desired, insert king cake baby into cake from underneath, and dust iced cake with colored sugars.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 436 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 68 g |
| Cholesterol | 98 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 381 mg |
| Sugars | 31 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Love this cake. I didn’t get to use the cream cheese filling because my boyfriend doesn’t like cream cheese, so I used a cinnamon filling instead. I twisted mine and baked it in a bundt pan. If you do this I would suggest cutting back the baking time and keep an eye on it. Will be using this recipe in the future!
I enjoyed making this. It came out well. The sweet dough is very wet and takes quite a bit of additional flour. I prefer working with drier doughs that take a little extra liquid. For the filling, I used the zest of a fresh lemon in addition to the juice. Left out the vanilla extract and the nutmeg (forgot them?). A mini-Cuisinart works great for making a smooth filling. 1 egg for the egg wash is way too much. Once you’ve whisked the 3 eggs for the dough, just reserve a couple of tablespoons. Add water and wash. For the icing, I skipped the corn syrup and lemon juice. I put the milk in a cup, added some vanilla extract, then added confectioners sugar to thicken.
This is a great recipe! I used it twice in one weekend. The first time, I filled the cake with the cream cheese filling; the second time, I filled it with a praline filling. Both turned out moist and flavorful. I also used regular yeast instead of rapid-rise, letting the dough rise about 3 hours instead of the two called for.
I made this recipe exactly as the directions instructed and it is fabulous! It ranks right up there with the cream cheese King Cakes I bought at Lawrence’s Bakery in New Orleans years ago. Thanks for sharing!
I only had time to let dough rise for an hour instead of 2, so it didn’t get as big as it should have, but still tasted great! I used orange juice & one drop of orange essential oil instead of lemon b/c I’m not a lemon fan. Also had to use 1/2 & 1/2 instead of Added some brown sugar & cinnamon to the filling b/c I like mine sweeter. In the picture, the one on the right was a gluten-free version. Was a tad bit drier than the regular one, but still tasted amazing. Took them to serve at a Mardi Gras party at our local brewery & there was nothing left!
I have made this recipe 4 times now and it just gets better each time. No, it’s not as sweet as the now-popular, cinnamon, sugar-heavy version. The flavors are much more subtle and evocative of the king cakes from the 50s. Only change I’ve made it adding a few tablespoons to lowfat buttermilk since I can’t find the kind called for. I can’t get enough of this cake!
This was the first king cake I eve made. I am an experienced baker. I added some lemon zest to the filling. Not too sweet, not too heavy. A keeper recipe.
We made this as a family project. Instead of glitter we colored the glaze. Added coconut and white chocolate chips for filling ????
I grew up in and now live again in Baton Rouge. I spent more than 20 years making my own king cakes when I lived away from Louisiana. I think this is very good recipe and the first buttermilk king cake I have made. For my first batch, I made it exactly in accordance to instructions and all who tasted it said it was really good, but it was not quite up to my standards. These are the changes I will make in my second batch: (for some reason I can’t have paragraph spacing, so I apologize for the long review.) I always proof my yeast before adding it. To do this, I warm 1/4 c water to 110 degrees and add 1/4 t granulated sugar and my yeast. I stir it slightly and let it sit while I gather all the ingredients and heat the butter and milk in the saucepan and then allow it to cool. In 10 minutes the yeast will be foaming all over the place. If it is not, throw it out and buy more yeast! I add it to the dry dough along with the milk-egg mixture. I will also add 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil or Fiori di Sicilia, a fragrant citrusy oil I like for sweet baking; and 1/4 t freshly ground nutmeg to the dough. I will knead it with the dough hook only 8 minutes max, and add an additional 1/2 c at least of flour at the beginning. I ended up adding about 3/4 c flour total to the measures stated, but I sift my flour first, so if you are not sifting first, I wouldn’t add any flour until later in the kneading. The rising and roll out instructions are clear and good, but here’s my advice to newbie
Everyone liked it. Next time, I will use colored frosting because the decorator sugar wouldn’t stick. Will also increase lemon and nutmeg. Loved the way the filling melted into the surrounding. Will remake as a sweet breakfast bread. (Easy to add sugar to inside and save time not dealing with frosting.)
I only used the bread portion, egg wash, and icing portion (replaced 1t lemon juice with equal amount of milk) of this recipe. Best King Cake I’ve ever had! For the filling, I used 1/2 cream cheese (8oz cream cheese, 2T sugar, 2T flour, 1t vanilla extract, and 2 egg yolks) and 1/2 warmed Nutella.
So glad y’all like it! I felt like this recipe should’ve come with a disclaimer: if you’re looking for a cake that oozes cream cheese frosting, this isn’t it. The “filling” nearly absorbs into the cake as it bakes, giving it a soft and flavorful but not runny center. Also, nutmeg and lemon *were* the traditional NOLA King Cake flavorings (anyone remember McKenzie’s? :); what we’ve had for decades now is a cinnamon substitution – basically, a cinnamon coffee cake with colored sugar. *meh* Thanks for your comments, everyone! 🙂
We used this recipe for a recent volunteer event capped by a mardi gras celebration. I had previously cooked the king cakes for the event but passed the duty along this year. The baker made four of them. All our volunteers enjoyed the cake so much that we had to send a link to the recipe. Not too sweet, not too doughy, wonderful filling and icing. Traditional nutmeg rather than commercial heavy to cheaper cinnamon flavor. Very time consuming but from the eater’s point of view…oh my, well worth the wait.
This is the first king cake recipe that I have made that doesn’t use the traditional brioche dough. The buttermilk version used for this recipe results in a slightly more dense, thicker and sturdier dough, but it still has a nice sweetness to it. The cream cheese filling added just the right amount of creamy texture and sweetness…my husband now says that this is the best king cake he has ever had. The only modification I made was to add an extra 1/2 c. flour to the dough while it was mixing (as Allrecipes magazine suggested) – otherwise the dough would have been REALLY sticky. It is a very sticky dough to work with at first, but it is less messy after kneading/rising.
skipped cream cheese and went with almond filling. I didn’t have buttermilk so I used almond milk with a teaspoon of vinegar..I would definitely go with buttermilk next time. I’m sure its a 5 star recipe. I think I just overbaked it a little.
My husband misses Louisiana food and decided we should try this recipe. We added 1/2 cup more sugar to the filling and left out the lemon but otherwise followed the recipe. It was very good! It was rich and soft.
I saw this recipe in my recent edition of All Recipes Magazine. My husband’s family is originally from New Orleans so I thought I would bake this as a treat. I’m a very experienced baker so this seemed easy enough. I made the dough as directed however I didn’t roll it out on parchment; it rolled easily on the counter and I just transferred it to the baking sheet as I would a traditional yeast coffeecake ring. It baked for the 45 minutes but I still thought it was a bit “doughy” even though the exterior was a nice medium golden brown. Also, the recipe advises to use a 8″ round pan to mold the ring around. That didn’t work for me because I was using a traditional 1/2 sheet pan so there wasn’t room along the edges for the dough to fit so I used a bowl that was about 7″. We did not like the filling. All you can taste is the tartness of the cream cheese. We prefer the traditional cinnamon version of King Cake. No one in my family was familiar with the lemon/nutmeg flavoring. I wanted to like it but it just didn’t do it for me.