Easy Almond King Cake

Serves: 12

Hands On Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

1 (17.3-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 to 3 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Purple, green and yellow colored sugar

Instructions

To make the cake: Unfold the sheets of puff pastry. Place each one on its own rimmed baking sheet. Press down on any cracks to repair them, and gently roll the pastry to smooth it out. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, about 30 seconds. Add one of the eggs, and beat until creamy, 30 to 45 seconds more. 

Place the almonds and powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles a fine meal. Turn the almond meal into the bowl with the butter and sugar. Add the flour, rum and vanilla, and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just incorporated.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the remaining egg.

Remove the baking sheets from the refrigerator. Paint a 1-inch border of the beaten egg around the edges of one pastry sheet. Spoon the almond mixture into the center of the pastry, pressing it with the spoon just until it meets the egg wash. Do not let the filling get onto the egg wash border. Place the second pastry sheet over the filling, and press down on the edges firmly to seal. Brush the top with egg wash.

Bake until the cake is puffed and brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack before decorating.

To make the glaze: Place the sugar in a medium bowl, and whisk in enough milk to make a smooth, but still fairly thick, glaze. Add the extract. Spread the glaze evenly over the cooled cake, and then sprinkle the sugars over the glaze in large stripes. Let set for 20 minutes before serving.

About the recipe

This easy king cake recipe is perfect for any Mardi Gras party. The recipe was adapted from contributor Anne Byrn’s cookbook, “American Cake.”