American Wise Men's Cake for Mardi Gras
Complexity: easily
Servings: 12
The cake of the Magi is a traditional pastry in Catholic countries for the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the gift given to the infant Jesus by the Three Wise Men. Although the cake of the Magi varies in appearance and taste in every country, its invariable "ingredient" is the surprise baked inside. This can be a bean or a small figurine. The cake is cut into pieces and distributed to each person present at the feast. Whoever gets the figurine or the bean becomes king for the day and can ask for whatever they want.
One of the most colorful and beautiful pies, the Magi Pie, is baked in the southeastern United States. The dough, filled with cinnamon, raisins, nuts, or cream, is rolled into a log, then twisted into a ring and baked. The finished pie is topped with icing and sprinkled with decorative sugar in purple, green, and gold—the traditional colors of Mardi Gras (the Russian equivalent of Maslenitsa), where Magi Pie is considered the main treat.
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.
Ingredients for the recipe:
Pie
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 packet of dry active yeast
- 2.5 tbsp. bakery flour and a little more for sprinkling
- 2 large egg yolks plus 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 0.5 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 165g butter, melted and cooled, plus a little extra for the bowl
Filling and glaze
- 0.5 cups light raisins
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. grated orange zest
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 dry bean or plastic baby figurine
- 0.5 cup powdered sugar
- Purple, green and gold decorative sugar
We recommend
Cooking the dish according to the recipe:
- Pie.
Heat the milk in a saucepan, but do not bring it to a boil. Pour it into the bowl of a food processor, add the yeast, and mix. Add 0.5 cups of flour and the egg yolks. Mix everything together. Sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of flour evenly over the mixture, but do not stir. Cover and let sit for 1 hour and 30 minutes. - Add 2 eggs, granulated sugar, lemon zest, salt, and nutmeg. Knead for 1 minute until the dough is sticky. With the processor running, slowly pour in the butter and knead into a slightly sticky ball of dough. Transfer to a lightly buttered bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place for 3 hours. Then turn it out onto a clean work surface and quickly knead it. Form it into a ball and return it to the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Filling.
Place the raisins in a small saucepan over medium heat and let them simmer. Then remove the saucepan from the heat and add the brown sugar, pecans, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, salt, and a bean or plastic figurine. Stir everything together. - On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a 50 x 17 cm rectangle, with the long side facing you. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 2.5 cm margin at the top and bottom. Roll the dough tightly and press the seam.
- Place the roll, seam-side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll it into a ring, pinching the ends together. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 170°C. Bake the roll until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Glaze.
Mix powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of water. Spread 3 tablespoons of icing over the cake. Sprinkle with decorative sugar in wide stripes and drizzle with icing.
Categories:
Similar recipes
