Vegan Praline King Cake
RECIPE BELOW!! Epiphany is tomorrow.. wait no, in 2 days actually lol! Anyway, that means it’s about to be King Cake day!! But around here in Louisiana, the rules for that don’t necessarily apply, because you can typically find king cakes in stores the week after Christmas, and they’re continuously sold and enjoyed throughout the entire Mardi Gras season. It’s like the south said, “I’m not a part of your systemmmm!” (That’s a Lonely Island reference right there. If you get it, let’s be friends.)
It’s become somewhat of a family tradition of mine to make a King Cake on Epiphany. I made mine 3 days early this year so I could record and post it before Epiphany so that maybe some of you could make your own cake! The first king cake I ever made from scratch was a whole wheat plant-based apple cake (recipe not posted because that was so long ago and it wasn’t that good)… then I had a change of heart with cakes: I’m not going to try and really make it healthy. It’s a king cake. It’s meant to be indulgent. So the next year I made the standard cinnamon and sugar (click for recipe). Then last year, I made a sort-of healthy-ish version of king cake: whole wheat chocolate filled vegan king cake using a silkened tofu chocolate pudding recipe that was put into my hands thanks to the internet and a health challenge for the new year (that video is on YouTube (click here for link) with the recipe in the video description).
But THIS YEAR…. I wanted to do something different!
Pralines are a staple in southern Louisiana. There are many variations of the sugar treat: some are very soft and buttery, some have a good snap to them (almost like a brittle), some are right in between those textures. The most standard is a pecan praline, but you can also find pralines containing other nuts like almonds as well.
I wanted the filling to pretty much be a praline without me having to pre-cook it.
I didn’t want to have an awkward texture in the middle of the cake. So I included all the standard ingredients for a praline: butter, sugar, vanilla, pecans. Just sit back and let the maillard reactions take over from there.
This recipe was a really delicious success. Right as I was done filming the video, I sent a couple pictures to our family group text saying “Vegan praline king cake fresh out the oven! Please come get some when you can! I can’t have this sitting in my house lol!” Y’ALL. My mom, sister, and brother-in-law were all at our house within 30 minutes LOL! I love that so much — it’s so nice to be near family! Anyway, I asked them for their critiques. I personally felt like it could have used a little more sugar filling, and so did my sister. Both my husband and brother-in-law said no it was good the way it was. I may be coming from a more critical angle… like, if this king cake were being judged, I would say “I personally would like a little more filling so that the carmelized praline sugar would be more at the forefront.”
SO, since the house was divided on the filling predicament, I’m included both my original filling amount that’s shown in the video, and I’m also offering a doubled amount which should lend itself for a thicker buttery creamy filling. You can choose whichever you like!
As I was making this, my little 8 month old was getting into trouble LOL! He wants to walk before he crawls, and he’s almost there (!!!!! 8 months, y’all…!!) I was on a school time pick-up schedule, so I had to get things going to rise and stuff before the first pick-up. ANYWAY, I say this because as I was rounding out my dough, I noticed my gluten wasn’t stretching as far as I wanted it. I started to try and knead it more, but the babe needed my attention and the rise needed to start. So I continued anyway. The result of this is that the flour was cracked in certain spots after baking — it couldn’t stretch as far as the baking rise went. So please knead the dough for about 15 minutes if you’re wanting that bready delicious king cake!
Some king cakes are quite crumbly as well. You can create a more crumbly king cake by only kneading for about 5 minutes, then beginning your rise. The 5 minute knead is a quick version that produces more of a crumble cake. Some super markets around here serve this style as well.
Rate the recipe if you try it out! People like to see other people’s opinions about the recipe besides the creator!
Happy eating! And happy Epiphany! It’s carnival time! Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Vegan Pecan Praline King Cake
Ingredients
- 1 pkg active dry yeast (rapid rise is OK as well -- just skip Step 1 and pour into flour)
- 3/4 cups non-dairy milk (almond preferred)
- 2 1/2 cups flour, spooned and leveled off
- 1/4 cup of sugar + a pinch
- 2 Tbsps aquafaba (the juice from a can of beans)
- 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
- 2 Tbsps melted butter
- 2 Tbsps brown sugar* (use 4 Tbsps if you typically like more filling)
- 2 Tbsps white sugar* (use 4 Tbsps if you typically like more filling)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 1 tsp almond extract (vanilla also works)
- 3 Tbsps non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Warm milk in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (temp cannot exceed 110 Fahrenheit). Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to the milk. Stir and set aside to activate.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Then add the aquafaba, butter, and foamy milk and stir until a dough forms.
- Turn out dough onto a light floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes, dusting with flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the surface (the dough should be tacky and moist but not stick to your hands).
- Once the dough is stretchy and smooth, pat dough down into a disk on the counter. Round the dough by pulling a small section of the outer edges of the dough into the center of the dough disk. Go all the way around the dough a couple of times until you have a smooth, taut ball of dough (see the youtube video for more).
- Place seam side down into a bowl (no need to grease -- the dough has tons of butter it won't stick). Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. I let my dough rise in the oven with the light on, or a running clothes dryer.
- Once the dough has risen, turn out dough onto a floured surface. Punch out all the air in the dough (important -- otherwise it will not rise evenly).
- Carefully roll out the dough into a rectangle, roughly measuring 16" x 10" (I didn't measure -- you don't have to measure. Just giving you some approximations in case you like a recipe that specific).
- Spread all the butter of the filling onto the dough rectangle. Mix together the brown and white sugar and sprinkle evenly all on top the butter layer. Lastly, evenly sprinkle the finely chopped pecans on top the sugar layer.
- Roll the cake starting with the long end going to the other long end. Pinch the edges together and closed. Shape into a circle and pinch the ends together to join the circle.
- Transfer to a cookie sheet, cover, and let rise again for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread some melted vegan butter over the top the king cake.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the cake 180 degrees halfway though, until the top is starting to brown. (The whole cake will not be brown -- if you wait until the entire cake surface is browned, it will be over baked and dry. Look for the top to look dry and the very top and edges (the edge that's facing the back of the oven specifically) to start to brown. It's almost exactly 20-25 minutes every time.)
- Let cool completely. Mix together the glaze ingredients -- the texture of the glaze should be like a thick glue. Spoon out about 2 Tbsps of icing into 3 separate cups (2 Tbsps per cup). Dye one purple, one gold, and one green (the colors of Mardi Gras). Pour the white glaze on top the king cake. Then using a spoon or a piping bag, drizzle the colors on top the cake in a squiggle fashion (think Mardi Gras beads).
- Serve and enjoy! Leave the king cake butter knife on the cookie sheet so that anyone that wants some King Cake can cut a slice for themself (it's tradition -- the knife is always left out until the cake is gone... coated in sugar.. sticky.. it's just part of the Mardi Gras experience and aesthetic lol!)
Notes
~ You can do a quick knead of 5 minutes and have a more crumbly cake-like king cake if you'd like
~ You can have the original amount of filling or double it as it's noted in the recipe. You would only double the sugar, nothing else.
~ DO NOT OVER BAKE. This cake should not brown all over completely. If it does, but that point it would be dried out a good bit. Instead, look for the signs of browning on the very tops or edges. It's almost certainly around 20-25 minutes. Watch carefully if you're leaving it in the oven longer than that.
~ The glaze when mixed should be like a very thick glue texture. Any thinner and it will run all over and not give you a beautiful drip.
~ Use dyed sugar crystals in place of the colored glaze if you like! I didn't have any on hand
~ CAUTION: If using a plastic baby, the plastic baby should NOT be baked into the cake. I've included specific instructions to add the baby or trinket at the very end for this reason.