Vegan King Cake⚜️ -

I’ve always wanted to make a vegan King Cake, the festive bread traditionally eaten during the feast of Epiphany on January 6–when those three wise men finally got to Bethlehem to give Baby Jesus those impractical gifts. But the purple, green and yellow cake’s season extends to Fat Tuesday, the start of Mardi Gras, a day of bread (and bread soda) revelry before the marked abstinence of Lent.

Though it is traditional to bake a plastic baby inside the bread, my first attempt at this bread would not contain plastic parts. If you are the person served a slice that contains the baby, you win… the responsibility of hosting the Epiphany soiree next year. When I make a loaf I am proud enough to serve to someone, I’ll bake in the baby. This loaf was a bit flat, so consider this trial one.

Making & the Dough / First Proof ⚜️

1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast

½ cup warm Soy Milk

3 Tbsp Coconut Sugar

2 1/4 (344 grams) cups all-purpose flour

½ cup Earth Balance

Pinch of salt

1.) Activate yeast. Warm soy milk in small sauce pan to 110 F, then pour into a medium bowl. Add active dry yeast and whisk gently. Then add coconut sugar and gently whisk again. Set aside for five minutes to activate the yeast.

2.) After yeast activates, add flour, yeast mixture and Earth Balance to the stand-up mixer bowl affixed with a dough hook. Turn on the stand up mixer at a low speed to begin to incorporate.

3.) After it is not so wet, add the salt and increase the speed to medium-high.

4.) Let the mixer knead until dough is shiny, elastic-y and pulling away from the bowl, about 5-10 minutes.

5.) After, remove dough off the hook and scoop all onto a lightly floured surface. Gentle manipulate dough into a rectangle with your hands. This will make it much more easy to roll out later on.

6.) Lightly oil a glass casserole pan and place dough inside. Spray some plastic wrap then cover with the oiled side inside. Set aside somewhere warm to rise until doubled, about an hour.

Filling & Second Proof ⚜️

7.) Make the filling by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup chopped pecans

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup raisins

½ cup Earth Balance

8) Prepare a large flat baking sheet, lining with parchment paper. Clear a large working space and dust with flour. Then flour your rolling pin.

9.) Place dough onto floured surface and stretch the rectangle, lengthening the dough with your fingers. Then use your rolling pin. You want to create a large rectangle with a thickness of 1/4 inch.

10.) Once the dough is to thickness, you may trim any uneven sides if you are all neat like that. Spread the cinnamon and sugar onto one long half of the dough, edge to edge.

11.) Fold un-sprinkled side onto the sprinkled side, pressing gently to seal the layers. Cut dough into three long strips.

12.) Braid the dough to the other end and then form a circle. [Note: I did a horrendous job with my braid as stared at the dough forgetting how to braid randomly. But the second proof can be semi-forgiving.]

13.) Carefully place on prepared sheet pan. Now it is ready to sit for a second proof. You can leave the loaf at room temperature for 1-2 hours until dough has doubled.

14.) Once doubled in size, bake in an oven preheated to 325 F for 35-40 minutes or until its bottom taps dry and hollow-sounding. [👶 Wait: If you want to bake the little plastic baby in the cake, penetrate the baby into the dough from the bottom before baking.👶 ]

Frost & Garnish ⚜️

15.) Remove from pan from oven allow to cool on a wire rack while you are preparing the icing.

½ cup Earth Balance

2 tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

6 tbsp water, as needed

16.) Mix all ingredients except water. Mixture should be very thick.

17.) Add a tbsp of water, repeating until desired consistency is reached. Icing should pour off the spoon.

18.) Remove can from pan and put on a wire cooling rack. Spoon icing on the top of the cake. Let the heat from the cake help the icing warm up and run.

19.) Sprinkle the purple, green and yellow Mardi Gras flair to make it an official King Cake.