Spiced Rum Cream Filled King Cakes

In the spirit of finally being well and to celebrate Carnival/Mardi Gras season, I took to my kitchen to experiment with some New Orleans classic cuisine. The result? My Spiced-Rum Cream Filled Mini King Cakes with Butter Cream Icing! Traditionally, king cakes are a brioche bread that is braided into a ring and baked and then decorated with colored sugar. Once the cake has finished baking, a tiny plastic baby is inserted inside the cake and whoever gets the baby in their slice is supposed to have good luck. I didn't insert a baby into mine...I used rum because its a party after all and it may be good for making a baby, so there you go! Continue reading to find out how to create these delectable goodies for your own Fat Tuesday celebration and "Laissez les bon temps rouler" (let the good times roll)!

I will be honest with you, you will need to make the brioche dough at least a day in advance as it does require significant rise time but trust me, this is well worth the effort. You can freeze any unused dough for up to 1 month.  This recipe will yield 6-9 3 1/4" cakes.


What you will need: 
Brioche Dough:
Stand or hand mixer with dough hook attachment
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used unbleached-personal preference)
5 eggs
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup of raw sugar (regular white sugar will substitute just fine)
1 package of dry yeast
1/3 cup of warm milk
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Vegetable oil for frying

Butter Cream Frosting:
1 stick of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream-for spreading consistency
Small pinch of salt
Colored sugar

Spiced Rum Cream Filling:
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup dark spiced rum
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup of confectioner's sugar

Bringing it together:
Brioche Dough-
1. Place the warm milk in the mixing bowl.
2.  Add the package of yeast and set aside to dissolve. This will take up 10 minutes.
3.  Once the yeast has dissolved, whisk in 1 egg and 1 cup of the flour into the yeast mix.
4.  Once the mixture becomes smooth, sprinkle over 1 cup of flour and cover the mixing bowl. Set aside in a warm place and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. If the top of the dough appears cracked after sitting for 30 minutes, that's a good thing.
5.  If you are using a stand mixer, attach the mixing bowl to your stand mixer and fit the mixer with the dough hook. If you are using a hand mixer, fit the mixer with the dough hooks.
6.  In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the remaining 4 eggs. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs to the dough, ensuring that they are well incorporated.
7.  When the dough becomes smooth, add the sugar, salt, and remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour.
8.  After you have added the remaining dry ingredients, turn mixer up to medium speed and continue mixing for 15-20 minutes until dough comes together.
9.  When the dough has come together, add all of the softened butter and vanilla extract and mix for another 10 minutes.
10. Once the dough has completely come together and is smooth, cover the mixing bowl with a clean, lint-free towel and set in a warm place to rise for 2 hours.
11. After 2 hours, remove dough from the mixing bowl.  At this time you can stretch the dough a few times in your hands to release gasses. Generously cover dough with plastic cling wrap and refrigerate over night or at least 6 hours.
12.  After the dough has rested, place the dough on a well floured surface and loosely shape the dough into the shape of a rectangle.
13. Use a rolling pin to uniformly roll the dough out to no more than 1" inch thickness.
14. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out cakes to your desired size.
15.  Heat at least 2 inches of vegetable oil in a deep skillet or heavy pan to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
16. Drop the cakes in the oil one at a time, taking care to not over crowd the pan.
17.  Using a spider of other slotted spoon, turn the cakes to ensure that both sides cook evenly.  The cakes will fry up quickly and you may need to turn them more than once.  They will float when they are done.
18.  Set cooked cakes aside on paper towels to drain and repeat cooking process until all of your cakes are done.

Spiced Rum Cream Filling:
Don't put the stand/hand mixer away just yet because you will need it for the filling.  You will also need a piping bag fitted with a star tip to fill the cakes.

1.  Using stand mixer or hand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese until there are no large lumps.
2.  Add remaining ingredients and beat on low for 2 minutes and then medium speed for 5 minutes or until the mixture is smooth.
3.  Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
4. Once the cakes are cool enough to handle, puncture the cakes on the edge with the star tip and squeeze the filling into the cake just until the the cake puffs a little from the cream. Once all of the cakes have been filled, you can move on to icing.

Butter Cream Frosting:
Be careful not to over mix this frosting as it will become grainy in texture. You will need either your stand or hand mixer for this frosting.

1. Combine butter and sugar into the mixing bowl and cream together until smooth. Start off on low speed for 1 minute and then increase speed to medium for 3 minutes until the mixture is smooth.
2.  Add in vanilla extract and whipping cream and beat on medium for 1 minute.
3.  Scoop mixture into a bowl and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use. Bring frosting to room temp just before use.
4.  Ice the cakes with about 1-2 tablespoons of the icing, ensuring an even layer.
5. Once they are iced, sprinkle over colored sugar and enjoy!