King Cake or Rosca De Reyes

So you all won't forget that January 6th is Epiphany, marking the day when the Magi arrived in Bethlehem ... I decided to make a King Cake from a recipe on Food.com mostly.

The recipe blew up a lot more than I thought - I think it would really make 3 rings rather than just two - and a bit more filling in each. The traditional colors are gold, green and purple, but I couldn't find purple - so I dyed a bit of the icing purple ...

•    2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
•    1/2 cup warm water
•    1 cup milk, warm
•    1 cup sugar
•    1 cup butter, melted and cooled a bit
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    6 eggs, beaten 
•    6 cups flour (may need up to 8 cups)
•    1 (12 ounce) can solo almond filling or any other flavor
•    2 dried beans (for the babies)
•    colored sugar sprinkles

1. 1
   Combine yeast and water in a small bowl, stirring until dissolved, and set aside until yeast is proofed.
2. 2
   In a large mixing bowl combine the milk, sugar, and butter, stirring until dissolved.
3. 3
   Add the salt, eggs, and yeast mixture and blend thoroughly.
4. 4
   Beat in 3 cups of flour to make a smooth batter Add additional flour to make a soft dough (dough will be very sticky).
5. 5
   Turn out onto a floured board and knead approximately 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed.
6. 6
   Dough may be made with a standing mixer and dough hook.
7. 7
   Round into a ball and place in a warm buttered bowl, turning to lightly coat top with some of the butter.
8. 8
   Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
9. 9
   Punch down the dough and divide in half.
10. 10
    To prepare rings, divide dough in half and flatten into a long oval.
11. 11
    Spread 1/2 can of Solo almond filling I would use more) on each oval, place one bean into each oval, and roll each piece into a rope.
12. 12
    Join ends together leaving large oval hole in the middle.
13. 13
    Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour.
14. 14
    While the bread is rising, preheat oven to 350°F.
15. 15
    Bake rings for 30 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden brown and sound hollow when thumped.
16. 16
    Remove and let loaves cool on wire racks.
17. 17
    Icing: Mix all the icing ingredients together until well blended.
18. 18
    To serve, frost cooled loaves with icing.
19. 19
    Decorate with different colored sugars or candied fruit.

Cinnamon Filling

2/3

cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

4

tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Icing

1

cup powdered sugar

1

tablespoon milk

1/2

teaspoon vanilla