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Mini Mardi Gras King Cakes




A miniature version of a season cake that's stuffed with scratch-made Bavarian cream cheese, cinnamon, sugar, in a yeasty dough and topped with a thick sweet icing and purple, green and gold sugar.
It is now Mardi Gras season in Southeast Louisiana and we now have all the good stuff out. My favorite has to King Cakes.
We call King Cakes stuffed if there is more than the normal cinnamon and sugar. You can get cream cheese, Creole cream cheese, Bavarin cream, chocolate, strawberry and many, many more.
My favorite has to be either plain or Bavarian cream cheese. It is like a pastry cream, but not as sweet.
With the King Cake it is tradition to have a tiny plastic baby in stuffed in the cake and if you get the piece that has it you have to buy the next King Cake

Recipes you may like:
Banana Fosters Pound Cake
Mardi Gras Cookies
King Cake Bread
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Mini Mardi Gras King Cakes

Time:
Prep- 30 minutes 
Proofing- 2 hours
Baking- 30 minutes


Ingredients

King Cake Dough
4 1/2 to 5 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour or Bread Flour
1 Tablespoon Dry Active Yeast
1/4 cup Warm Water 
1 cup Warm Milk
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
2 Tablespoons Honey or Granulated Cane Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Fine Sea Salt
2 large eggs

Bavarian Cream Cheese Filling
1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar
3/4 cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour
3 cups Whole Milk 
3 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons Butter
3 1/2 ounces Cream Cheese
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Cinnamon Suga
1/2 cup Granulated Cane Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt

Glaze
3 cups Confectioners' Sugar
3 to 4 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste
Pint of Salt
Purple, Green and Gold sanding sugar

1. In a medium size cup, combine honey or sugar and warm water until dissolved.  In a large bowl, combine 4 1/2 cups flour, yeast on one side and salt on the other. Add in the sugar water and two eggs. Mix until just combined.
2. Using a stand mixer with a hook or hand mixer, mix for 5 to 7 minutes and slowly add in warm milk. If you are mixing by hand, you will have to kneed the dough for 10 minutes on a floured surface.
3. Cover and let if proof for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until it has doubled.
4. Bavarian Cream Cheese Filling- in a medium sauce whisk together sugar, flour and salt. Add in milk.  In a separate bowl beat egg yolks then add to the pan. Add to the milk sugar mixture. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat until it is thick about 5 to 7 minutes. Whisking constantly so it won't burn on the bottom. 
5. Take it off the heat, add vanilla and butter and whisk until well mixed. Once the butter is well mixed add in cream cheese until well mixed. Cover with cling wrap and press again the custard so it won't develop a skin. Place in the fridge to chill completely. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks. Fold into the cooled mixture and chill until using.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degree and cover two cookie sheet with parchment.
6. Tip the proof dough onto a lightly floured then roll out to an 18 inch by 12 in rectangle.  Spread the Bavarian cream 2/3 the way of the dough.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture and pat into the cream. Fold into an envelope and pinch the sides.
7.  Mark the stripes to 6 inch by 1 inch. Cut with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Twist the stripes then bring the ends together pinching them together. Place on the cookie sheet. Once a cookie sheet fills up place in the fridge and chill for 25 minutes.
8. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes then let cool complete on a wired rack.
9. Whisk glaze together until thick. Sprinkle sandy sugar in the pattern of purple, green and gold and sometimes purple again. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes. Store in a cool area.
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Comments

  1. I love this idea and they look so delicious!

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  2. Oh what fun and festive this recipe is for Mardi Gras! I've never had King Cake and it's sounds so incredibly tasty.

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  3. Love this! Thank you for the great idea.

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  4. I love the idea of making mini cakes for Mardi Gras to share. These look easy to make and delicious.

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  5. Love this idea for a king cake. I can't eat a whole cake but I love them.

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  6. Would love to try this. What's the ingredient that creates "Creole" cream cheese? Such a funny idea about added the toy baby into it. I kinda want to add that all the baked goods we bring to parties just to confuse people :)

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  7. Such a fun and colorful idea! They sound delicious too, perfect for any occasion!

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  8. Wow, this looks delicious! I have never heard of king cakes before, but now I am itching to try them! How fun and colorful...I bet your parties are so festive! Thanks for the recipe, can't wait to try them!

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  9. something my dd will definitely want to try out.. all that glitter is icing on the cake, literally!

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  10. Cream cheese and cinnamon are some of my favorite cake ingredients and the colorful icing looks delicious. Would definitely try it out.

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  11. These are just so festive! I've never been to Mardi Gras, but I have a lot of family in Georgia and Alabama who enjoy celebrating it!

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  12. I plan to attend a weekend of Mardi Gras this year, my first time!
    This will definitely be on my to try list. Is it odd that I’d be honored to have the tiny baby? ��

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  13. so colorful and pretty. You are making me so upset that I don't live in NOLA - and love the mini size you made them.

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  14. What a cool idea! I forgot that Mardi Gras is right around the corner. I might have to give this a try.

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  15. Holy cow these sound like sweet, sweet goodness! We might be making these for a superbowl party!

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  16. I'd never heard of these, but they scream Mardis Gras. It's also interesting the idea of the tiny baby in the king cakes.

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  17. Wow, that is such a cool and creative recipe! I love the colors and the GLITTER! So awesome! And they look delicious.

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  18. These look absolutely cute and magical! Would definitely eat these to celebrate mardis gras even though we dont celebrate it in Australia. I love the glitter on it! Reminds me of fairy bread.

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  19. I bet they taste great. my dad is from Baton Rouge. Louisiana has the richest food around!

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  20. Looks delicious! A festive and yummy treat for the perfect event.
    *Samantha- https://herjournal.blog

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  21. Yum! What I look forward to every year is to have King cake during Mardis Gras season! Your recipe looks delicious!

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  22. Love the colours and these look really good and yummy. My son would have a field day with these.

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  23. You've done such a beautiful job with these! I love the fun colours you've used in making them. :-)

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  24. how much does the recipe yield please?

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