Bananas Foster King Cake

King Cake is a very popular dessert during Mardi Gras and Carnival, and it's surprisingly easy to make! There are a lot of steps, but it's absolutely worth it if you love baking. Our recipe is for a Bananas Foster King Cake, but if you want to make a regular king cake all you need to do is ignore the pastry cream steps and leave out all banana ingredients. You can also order a king cake from a bakery, which we will definitely be doing next year because the cakes at Brennan's Bakery look amazing! (Ours kinda blew up lol)

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Brown Sugar Filling

Ingredients

• ¾ c brown sugar
  
• ¼ c butter
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• 2 Tbs dark rum (not spiced)
• 1 tsp banana flavoring or banana liqueur

Directions

• Heat and blend all ingredients well in a non-stick skillet - do not boil!
  
• Allow to cool before using

Banana Pastry Cream

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, broken into 3 pieces
  
• ¼ c corn starch
• ½ c sugar
• 2 c milk
• 4 large eggs
• ¼ c butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp banana flavoring or banana liqueur

Directions

• In a small bowl, mix corn starch and sugar well
  
• Add bananas, corn starch, sugar, and eggs to blender
• Blend until well blended, 4-5 minutes
• Pour into a heavy-bottomed pan and cook on medium low, whisking constantly until thickened, 10-15 minutes
• Remove from heat when thickened like pudding
• Add butter, vanilla, and banana flavoring, mix well
• Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface
• Cool and refrigerate

Cake

Ingredients

• ½ c softened butter
  
• ½ c sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 c warm milk
• 2 c flour
• 2 Tbs yeast
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• Additional 2 ½ c flour for kneading
• Additional 1 egg for coating cake before baking

Directions

• Using a mixer with paddles or beaters, cream butter and sugar together
  
• Add salt and vanilla, mix well and scrape bowl often
• Add eggs one at a time, mix well
• In a small bowl, combine flour, yeast, and nutmeg
• Add milk and flour mixture to bowl alternately, mixing well
• Change attachment to dough hook, or knead by hand
• Add 2 ½ c flour half a cup at a time, scrape bowl often
• Knead until dough clings to hook, or if kneading by hand dough should be slightly sticky but smooth
• Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover bowl with cling wrap and let rise 1 to 1 ½ hours
• While cake is rising, make brown sugar filling and banana pastry cream if not already made
• Place a sheet of parchment paper on a half sheet rimmed baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease AND flour your surface before rolling out dough
• Roll out dough into a rectangle about 10” x 16” - longer is better
• Spread brown sugar mixture on the dough between 2” from the top long edge to 3” from the bottom long edge
• Spread about 1-2 c banana pastry cream along the bottom long edge
• Roll from bottom carefully to enclose banana cream
• Carefully roll up dough, sealing the side edges as you go
• When the roll is done, pinch to seal
• Stretch carefully and form a ring, carefully transfer to baking sheet
• Brush with beaten egg
• Bake 30-40 minutes at 375°F
• Cool on wire rack

Icing

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs butter
  
• 2 Tbs milk
• 2 Tbs light rum
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c powdered sugar

Directions

• Mix all ingredients together well and spread on cake
• While icing is wet, decorate with sparkly sprinkles, maple crunchies, or green, gold, and purple sanding sugar
• The baby: you can push the baby into the cake from the bottom instead of baking it in

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