Mardi Gras King Cake

Let the good times roll! This is a traditional cake for Mardi Gras breakfast or brunch. It's good luck to find the plastic baby.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 20 mins
• Yields: 2 nine x twelve cakes

Ingredients

• 1⁄2-1  cup butter
• 1  teaspoon butter
• 2⁄3 cup fat-free evaporated milk
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 2  teaspoons salt
• 2  packages dry yeast
• 1⁄3 cup water
• 4  eggs
• 1  teaspoon  grated fresh lemon rind
• 2  teaspoons  grated  orange rind
• 6  cups flour
• 1⁄2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2-1  cup butter, melted
• 1  egg, beaten
• 1  cup sugar, colored (1/3 each of yellow, purple and green)

Directions

1. For Cake: Melt 1 stick butter, milk, 1/3 cup sugar and salt.
2. Cool to lukewarm.
3. Using a large mixing bowl, combine 2 T sugar, yeast and water.
4. Let stand until foaming, about 5-10 minutes.
5. Beat 4 eggs into the yeast mixture.
6. Add the milk mixture and the lemon and orange rinds.
7. Stir in the flour, about a 1/2 cup at a time.
8. (Save out a cup of flour for putting down on the surface you're going to knead your dough on.) Knead dough until smooth; 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Place in big, mixing bowl that's been greased with 1 T butter.
10. Turn dough to grease the top then cover and let rise until doubled.
11. For the filling:Mix the 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup granulated sugar and the cinnamon.
12. For the topping: Using food coloring, tint 1 cup sugar Mardi Gras colors (1/3 cup each of yellow, purple and green. You can make purple using equal amounts of red and blue food coloring.) You'll be sprinkling this on later.
13. When the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide in half.
14. Roll half into a 30x15" rectangle.
15. Brush with half of melted stick of butter.
16. Cut into 3 long strips.
17. Sprinkle half of the filling on the strips, leaving the last 1" strip (plain) for sealing.
18. Fold each strip lengthwise toward the center; seal.
19. Braid the strips into a closed circle.
20. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
21. Place each cake on a large baking sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel.
22. Let rise until doubled.
23. Brush each cake with beaten egg.
24. Sprinkle tops with colored sugars in a creative, criss-cross fashion.
25. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes.
26. Remove from pan while still hot.
27. Place a plastic baby in each cake from below.
28. Wrap cakes tightly in plastic.
29. Can be frozen.