Piece of life
Although my preferred King Cake is still the classic one, I started about 1 to 2 years ago to try some of them with different flavours. However, I did not change the almond base, which is essential in my opinion, but I liked to add a little extra touch. After the All Chocolate and the Pear-Chocolate King Cakes, it is an orange compote version that I wanted to try out this year.
About the Orange King Cake
I originally wanted to make a Clementine King Cake, but my compote appeared strangely. So, I resorted over the last oranges I had left here to make it up. I used smooth and sweet oranges, the Cara Cara. Depending on the type of orange you are using, it could be necessary to adjust the amount of sugar.
I considered the almond cream recipe that I usually use for King Cakes, and over it, I added the orange compote. The quantity was enough for my taste; Mr. Cocotte would have appreciated some more compote. It is up to you to adjust it to your taste.
We got a delightful result, with a touch of freshness and a little touch of bitterness. Of course, you could replace the oranges with clementines, and why not with grapefruits… it is an idea that sounds good to me, and I would like to do it for the following year.
I’ve been doing the same for many years for the dough, no mysteries: Christophe Felder’s inverted puff pastry. You can find a detailed step-by-step for this recipe here in the blog. But in case you do not have a homemade pie, a good commercial all-butter one will do the job as well.
Orange King Cake
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Remove the orange supremes and squeeze out the rest to get all the juice. Put them in a pan with 50g of sugar. Bring it to boil and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
- Mix the pectin with the rest of the sugar. Add it to the orange compote and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
- Add the candied orange peels and set aside.
- Roll out the puff pastries to a height of around 2mm. Preferably, take them to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Smash the soft butter with a fork. Add the egg and the rum, mix it.
- Add the flour, the sugar, the pinch of salt and the almond powder. Mix until you get a homogeneous cream.
- Slightly roll out again the first part of the pastry. Then, shape a circle around 23cm in diameter (you can use a pie ring mold to aid you). Place the pastry on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Spread the almond cream in a uniform manner over the pastry, leaving a free room around 2 cm on the edges.
- Spread the orange compote over the almond cream.
- Place the bean in the filling, close to the edge (to get less risk of cutting it).
- Slightly roll out again the second part of the pastry. Then, place it over the King Cake. Confine the filling with the pastry, pressing firmly all around the edges.
- Moisten the pastry bottom edge with a small amount of water, then, seal both pastry sides together by firmly pressing with your fingertips.
- Take the King Cake to the refrigerator for 30 minutes at least.
- Take the King Cake. Brush it with the egg yolk/milk mixture. Make a small hole at the center to allow the moisture to escape while baking. Using a sharp knife, make the decoration from your choice on the top of cake (you need to make the cuts but avoid cutting through the pastry).
- Bake it for about 40 minutes, until the cake shows a well golden-brown finish.
