Puff Pastry King Cake with Almond Filling was my first attempt at the venerable cake. Usually, this is a yeast cake, but I had puff pastry and almond filling on hand. This cake is very rich so a little bit goes a long way. Although the cake seems hard to make, it’s actually very easy.
I love to bake, but sometimes, shortcuts are the way to go. I used two short cuts, puff pastry from the frozen section in my supermarket, and almond paste from the baking section.
I love marzipan and almond paste. Marzipan is great for making figurines. I’ve made several sweets with marzipan and almond paste. I formed a little dachshund to represent Oscar when I made this.
Both almond paste and marzipan are made of almonds. If you have a nut allergy – STOP!
About the Puff Pastry King Cake
I will admit that I am relatively lazy. I could make my own almond paste from blanched almonds and sugar, but it’s easier for me to get the tube of almond paste at the supermarket. Maybe someday, when I have a lot of almonds for some reason, I’ll make my own – and I promise that there will be a post about that, too.
On that theme of laziness, I could also be using my own puff pastry, but that is another thing I’m looking forward to making, and, as Fr. Shea used to say about going to Heaven, “Not today, Lord, not today.” The puff pastry in the freezer section of your supermarket is fine for this application.
It’s not Mardi Gras without the traditional colors, gold, green and purple. Purple stands for Justice, Green for Faith, and Gold for Power. But, you know, for me, I love the combination of almond and chocolate, so this King cake has a chocolate ganache as well the colored glaze over it.
I hope you enjoy this and have a wonderful Easter season.
Email Me the Recipe
Puff Pastry King Cake
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 package frozen puff pastry
~~ For the Almond Filling ~~
- ¼ cup almond paste
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Bread crumbs, or cake crumbs
- 1 teaspoon Almond extract
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
~~ For Decoration ~~
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon gold sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 3 drops gel food dye, purple
- 3 drops gel food dye, green
Instructions
- 1 package frozen puff pastryPreheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the pastry from its container and wrapper and let it defrost on the counter for 40 minutes.
- 1/4 cup almond paste, 1/4 cup Sugar, 1 large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup Bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon Almond extract, 1 teaspoon VanillaWhile you are waiting for the dough to defrost, make the filling. Put almond paste, sugar, egg, salt, bread crumbs, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a food processor.
- Run the processor until the paste forms a ball. Let it sit until the pastry is thawed. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough out and remove the fold mark.
- Put the almond paste in the middle of the dough.
- Spread the paste evenly on the dough, leaving the two sides clear.
- Bend the tube until it forms a wheel. Make notches in the dough in twelve intervals, one for each serving. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. Remove from the oven, let them sit for 5 minutes, then put them on a rack to cool.
- 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 3 drops gel food dye, 3 drops gel food dyeWhile the cake is baking, separate the sugar into three small bowls. Add just enough milk to each to make a thick glaze. Add more sugar if it's too thin. Add purple dye to one bowl and green to another. Mix the colors in thoroughly. Leave the last one alone.
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, 1 tablespoon gold sugarMelt the chocolate in a double boiler until it is nicely melted. Don't burn it and don't add anything to it. Drizzle the three glazes over the cake in a nice pattern. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the glazes and sprinkle the gold sugar overall. Enjoy.
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