I had been craving king cake for weeks and being unable to find one in the grocery store I finally just decided to make one myself. I attempted a gluten free King Cake a few years ago and it did not go well (as many of my gluten free attempts turn out…). However, I decided to try it again and just do a regular version. After scouring the internet for a recipe I settled upon Southern Living and went all out and tried the Cream Cheese filled version rather than the traditional.

I was a little nervous because bread baking is not my specialty and being a yeast-based bread dough, it required kneading and proving. I was afraid I was either over or under kneading, but the end result turned out surprisingly well so I guess I did it correctly. I rolled the dough out as instructed and filled it with the cream cheese mixture, adding some chopped pecans and cinnamon as a bonus. Rolling it like cinnamon rolls I then shaped it into a circle and the only real challenge was getting it from the counter to the cookie sheet. Once cooled the icing was a breeze and then of course I added gold, purple, and green sanding sugar so it resembled a real king cake. While I did opt not to put a baby in the cake, it turned out looking pretty good.

I would definitely use this recipe again and while the cream cheese filling was good I would do the traditional version next time. This recipe makes 2 king cakes and it seemed easier to just go ahead and do that then half the recipe, plus I knew I could take it to work and it would be quickly eaten.

Recipe used: Southern Living