Twelfth Night Or Kings Cake
- Time 120 minutes
- Serves 12
Ingredients
- PLEASE READ THE ALTERATION SECTION FOR THE HISTORY OF THIS CAKE-FIRST PRINTED IN THE PECAYEUNE IN 1901
- 2 Pounds of the Best Flour
- 12 Eggs
- A Cupful of Sugar
- A Pound of the Best Butter
- 1/2 Ounce of Yeast
- 1/2 Ounce of Salt
- Candies to Decorate
How to make it
- PreparationTo make the Cake,
- take a pound and a half of the above-mentioned quality of flour,
- and put it in a wooden bread trough.
- Make a hole in the center of the flour,
- and put in a half ounce of yeast,
- dissolved in a little warm water.
- Add milk or tepid water to make the dough, using milk if you want it to be very rich and delicate, and water if you have not the milk.
- Knead and mix the flour with one hand, while adding milk or water with the other.
- Make a dough that is neither too stiff or too soft, and when perfectly smooth set the dough to rise in a moderately warm place, covering with a cloth.
- Remember that if you use milk to make the dought it must be scalded, that is, must be heated to the boiling point, and then allowed to grow tepid.
- Let the dough rise for five or six hours,
- when increased to twice its bulk, take it and add the reserved half pound of flour, into which you will have sifted the salt.
- Add six eggs, beaten very light with the sugar and butter,
- mix all well together, kneading lightly with your hands, and adding more eggs if the dough is a little stiff.
- Then knead the dough by turning it over on itself three time
- set to rise again for an hour or three-quarters of an hour.
- Cover with a cloth.
- At the end of this time take it up and work it again lightly, and then form into a great ring, leaving of course, a hole in the center.
- Pat gently and flatten a little.
- Have ready a baking pan, with a buttered sheet of paper in it, and set the central roll in the middle.
- Cover the pan with a clean, stiff cloth, and set the Cake to rise for an hour longer.
- When well risen, set in an oven a few degrees cooler than that used for baking bread (360°);
- let bake for an hour and a half;
- if medium, an hour, and if very small, a half hour.
- Glace the Brioche lightly with a beaten egg, spread lightly over the top before placing in the oven.
- Decorate with dragees (French: a small candy), caramels, etc.
