King Cake

Mix the yeast with the warm water. Stir 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the flour into the yeast, and set aside.

Bring the milk just to a boil, and stir in the butter and the remaining sugar. Pour into a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Beat in the egg yolks, whole eggs and the yeast mixture.

Beat in approximately 2 cups of flour, until the dough is fairly smooth, then gradually add enough additional flour to make a soft dough that you can form into a ball. Knead it, by hand or machine, until smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a bowl, turn the dough once or twice in it to grease it lightly all over, cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

This makes enough dough to make two cakes. You can make two cakes or freeze half to use another day. (The filling recipe is for one cake.)

Preheat oven to 375.

With the other half of your dough, form a long sausage-type roll before rolling it out into a rectangular shape. Roll it out as thin as a pie crust.

Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, flour egg yolks, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. If using the fruit pie filling, drain of excess liquid. Spoon the cheese filling down the center of the dough along the length of the dough. Spoon the pie filling along side the cheese filling.

Mix egg with a bit of water to create an egg wash. Fold the long edge of the dough over the filling, brush top with egg wash, and then overlap the other edge over the filling as well. It should now look like a long roll folded in thirds. Brush with additional egg wash, if desired, to seal dough. Gently maneuver the cake on to a well-greased or parchment-lined baking sheet forming a circle. As you move the cake to your baking sheet, carefully flip it over so that the seam side is down. Pinch the ends together to form a circle. You can squeeze and form your dough ring to manipulate it into a more even circle. Cover, and let it rest for 30 minutes. Brush with remaining egg wash, and bake for 25-35 minutes. The cake should have risen and be a golden brown. Cool.

Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add enough water to slightly thin out the icing. Be careful not to make it too thin.

Put two teaspoons of sugar into three small bowls. Mix 2 drops of yellow in one dish, 2 drops of green in the second, and 1 drop each of red and blue into the third. Mix sugars until you have gold, green, and purple sugar.

Pour icing over cooled cake. Sprinkle the sugars liberally over the top. The messier, the better!