Today in Advanced Baking we made King Cakes and began working on our themed cupcakes. My theme is Alice in Wonderland, and I am so excited about the design of these cupcakes.

I arrived a little after 7:30 am because I wanted plenty of time to work on my cupcakes and also have the chance to try out a King Cake recipe!

Since Holly and I were the first to arrive, we immediately went to the bakeshop and reserved some fondant for creating our cupcake decorations! Holly labeled a whole box just for the two of us!

I honestly dislike the taste of Wilton fondant

I immediately began working on the dough for my King Cake because it would need time to rise.

The first thing I did was gather my ingredients and put my milk into a pot on the stove to warm up.

Then I combined the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk adding the eggs in next, one at a time. The butter was mixed in next and the dough became smooth and elastic. I then placed the dough in a clean, greased bowl, wrapped in plastic wrap and set in a warm place to double in size.

When doubled, I punched the dough down to deflate and wrapped again to allow to rise again. Next, I made the cream cheese filling and the cinnamon sugar.

I rolled the dough out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle and cut it in half lengthwise.

I then decided to cut of four skinny pieces off of these two big pieces because I wanted to braid mine a little differently. I spooned the cream cheese filling onto the two big pieces, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar, and rolled them into tubes.

I then wrapped these two tubes into a braid and joined the ends to make a circle. This is how the recipe instructs you to make the King Cake.

I used the extra, skinny strips of dough to make skinnier little braids. I made two long, skinny braids and cut these in half. I then wrapped these skinny braids around the big one.

I then put the braid in the warm environment again to double one more time. I then baked the King Cake until it was completely done and sprinkled some more cinnamon sugar on the top.

I actually opted out of making the glaze for the top just because I ran out of time, but I’m sure it would have been a delicious addition!

Here is the original recipe that was given to me by Chef Mary Helen:

Sucre King Cake:

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2/3 cup whole milk, warm
• 5 tbsp sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, room temperature plus extra for greasing the bowl

For the filling:

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8  tsp lemon zest
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

For the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions;

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk in a mixing bowl and mix on low speed until it comes together.
2. Add one egg at a time, then add butter gradually. Continue to mix at a medium speed until smooth and elastic. Do not over mix.
3. Place in a clean, greased bowl and wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to double in size either in a warm setting or in a proof box. When doubled, punch the dough down to deflate and wrap again to allow to rise again.
4. Make the cream cheese filling. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.
5. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
6. Roll dough to an even rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut lengthwise into 2 pieces and spoon the filling on the upper 1/3 of each piece. Spring with cinnamon sugar. Roll each piece into a log and twist the two together to make a bride. Shape into a ring, sealing the ends well.
7. Proof to doubled in size.
8. Bake in 350 degrees F for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. If top is brown and the bottom is still not baked, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking.
9. Allow to cool.
10. Mix all the ingredients for the glaze until smooth. When cake has slightly cooled, coat the top and allow to dry before serving.

During the intervals in which my King Cake was rising, I worked on my themed cupcakes! Yesterday, I decided to put my cupcakes into mismatched teacups with mismatched saucers to go along with my Alice in Wonderland theme! This idea gave me another great idea – Earl Gray Tea Cupcakes! Get it? Tea cakes?

I found a yummy Earl Gray Muffin recipe online. I know its a muffin and not a cupcake recipe, but it seemed like such a great recipe that I had to try it! Plus, I didn’t want an overly sweet cupcake, so a tea muffin topped with some vanilla buttercream sounded perfect!

The first thing I did was scrounge up two of these popover pans because I need my cupcakes to be tall enough to reach the top of a teacup, but not too wide!

I greased and floured 12 of these for my cupcakes. Then, I whisked together the tea, flour, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

I then creamed the sugar and butter and added in the egg. Next, I added the vanilla, and then the sour cream and flour mixture interchangeably, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

I then baked the muffins in my preheated oven until they were completely cooked through and golden brown on top!

Here is the complete recipe for the muffins that I found on foodfanatic.com.

Earl Grey Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Earl Grey Tea, Tea removed
• 1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Zest, from about 1 medium lemon
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Room temperature
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/4 cups Sour Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with paper liners. In small bowl, whisk together tea, flour, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until well combined, scraping down side of bowl as needed. Add vanilla; mix at low speed until incorporated. Add sour cream and flour mixture interchangeably beginning and ending with the flour mixture; mix at low speed until just combined after each addition.
3. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Divide half of streusel over batter; use back of spoon to gently press streusel into batter. Evenly sprinkle remaining streusel over muffins. Transfer to oven and bake 22 to 24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool.

Once the muffins were cool, I whipped up some pastry cream to use as a filling for my muffins using this recipe that I found on createdby-diane.com.

Pastry Cream Filling

Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt together, then add to it ½ cup milk and whisk smooth.
2. In a small bowl mix egg yolks, then add them to the mixture and blend until creamy.
3. In a small sauce pan, heat the remaining milk to a simmer. (small bubble s around edge, not a full boil)
4. Slowly pour the heated milk into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Allowing the egg mixture to slowly heat will prevent the eggs from scrambling. (you are tempering the egg mixture)
5. Place the mixture into the saucepan and heat on medium low heat whisking until it comes to a boil and is smooth and creamy. This takes about 5 minute.
6. Remove pan from heat, stir in butter and vanilla.
7. Place pastry cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, allow it to cool 15 minutes, then put it into the refrigerator to chill.

Once the pastry cream was done, I cored one of my muffins and spooned some of the pastry cream inside. After that, I used a bit of the buttercream that Gentry had made for the class and swirled it on top of my muffin.

I know it looks messy and silly, but this was just a taste tester that we immediately dug in to!

I really, really LOVE the muffin. It has great Earl Gray, lemon, and vanilla flavors without being too overpowering. However, I honestly did not care for the filling paired with the cupcake. The pastry cream is excellent on its own, but it overwhelmed the more subtle tea flavor.

Even though my original idea wasn’t the best, everyone did like the buttercream and the muffin together! The buttercream was sweet and not distracting from the muffin flavors, so next week when I decorate and present my final recipe, I will just use the muffins and the buttercream!

I cannot wait to decorate these cute little things and put them in my mismatched teacups next Friday!

ABC.