Bread Machine King Cake and Red Beans and Rice

We don't normally do anything special for Fat Tuesday, but I had a wild hair today and decided to change that.  I made my first ever King Cake.  I'd been thinking about doing it for a couple of days, then today I started to get a little stressed about everything on my plate.  I called Rick's Bakery to see if they had any and they didn't so I did it myself.  It really was a breeze.  I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and modified it a little and it turned out nicely.  To complete the theme, we had Red Beans & Rice for dinner.

Caroline was excited to get the piece of cake with the Baby.

Bread Machine King Cake (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

Bread
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbls softened butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
3 1/2 tbls sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tbls melted butter

Icing
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbls melted butter
1/8 tsp vanilla
2 tbls milk, or as needed
purple, green, and yellow sugar sprinkles

Place the warm water, salt, butter, egg, sour cream, 3 1/2 tbls of sugar, flour, and yeast into the bread machine in that order.  Select the dough cycle, and start.  Check the dough after a few minutes and add more water or flour if dough is too dry or wet.  I had to add a tad more water.

Mix the filling sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl and set aside.  Grease a baking sheet or line with silpat.

When the dough cycle is finished (mine was 1 1/2 hour), remove the dough and roll out to a 10 x 28 inch rectangle on a floured surface.  Spread the cinnamon mixture over the dough.  Pick up one of the long edges and roll into a log.  Place the rolled dough onto the baking sheet, seam side down, and form into a ring.  Moisten the ends of the dough with a little water; pinch the two ends together to seal.  Cover with a cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.  Mine took about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake the cake until the top is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Mix the powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tbls butter, vanilla, and just enough milk to make a smooth glaze.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a rack for about 10 minutes.  Spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it run down the sides.  Immediately sprinkle with alternating sections of purple, green, and yellow sugars.  Allow to cool before serving.

Red Beans and Rice (adapted from Family Fun Magazine February 2012)

Ingredients

1 tbls Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz can chicken broth
Bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp Creole seasoning, or more if you like it spicy
3 15 1/2 oz cans red beans, rinsed and drained
1 pound turkey smoked sausage, but into bite sized pieces
cooked white rice

In a large pot, warm the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute until they are soft and tender, about 8 minutes.

Add the broth, bay leaf, thyme, creole seasoning, and beans and bring to boil.  Partially mash the beans, leaving most whole.  Stir in the sausage, cover and reduce to medium-low.

Simmer covered for 10 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove the bay leaf and serve over hot rice.