The Catalan TableKing's Cake
Brioche dough prepared the day before, with a preferment and, optionally, a marzipan filling.
Ingredients
Servings
1
Measurement units
Preferment ingredients
- 130 grsstrong flour
- 70 mlwhole milk
- 10 grsfresh baker's yeast
Main dough ingredients
- 2 medium eggs
- 450 grsstrong flour
- 60 mlwhole milk
- 70 grsbutter
- 20 grsfresh baker's yeast
- 20 mlorange blossom water
- 120 grsflavored sugar
- 1 lemon or orange
- 5 grssalt
Optional: marzipan filling
- 75 grsground almonds
- 75 grssugar
- 50 grsegg white
- 1 lemon
Topping decoration
- 1 egg
- sugar
- candied fruit
- small ceramic figurines
Nutritional Information
Per 100 g
Calories
297 kcal
Protein
8 g
Fat
8.9 g
Carbohydrates
45.7 g
Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.
Step-by-step Guide
The day before — prepare the preferment
- In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the preferment and mix them well.
- Leave the covered preferment to rest for a few hours, until it doubles in volume or becomes bubbly.
- You can prepare it in the morning to use it in the afternoon.
The following day — prepare the dough and bake
- Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk.
- In a bowl, place the sifted flour, whole eggs, salt, sugar, orange blossom water or anise, yeast dissolved in the milk, and lemon zest, and knead it.
- When the ingredients are well incorporated, add the softened butter and knead the dough again.
- Then add the preferment and continue kneading for 8 minutes.
- When the dough begins to have consistency, turn it out onto the worktop and stretch and fold it, using the Bertinet method, for about 10 minutes.
- The dough should be smooth and manageable, tacky but not very sticky.
- It must pass the windowpane test.
- If necessary, let it rest for 5 minutes, then stretch and fold it again.
- Repeat the kneading and resting until the dough is ready.
- Form a ball and let it rest in a covered bowl lightly greased with oil for one hour at room temperature; then place it in the refrigerator until the following day.
- The following day, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop.
- Gently stretch and fold it.
- Note: if making 2 cakes, divide the dough into 2 portions.
- Let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Optionally, prepare the marzipan filling; it must be prepared in advance.
- Mix the almond flour, sugar, lemon zest, and a little vanilla powder.
- Add 50 g of unbeaten egg white.
- Knead it until you obtain a thick purée and let it rest for a while.
- Turn it out onto the floured worktop and roll it into a log.
- Roll out the cake dough with a rolling pin and, if you want to fill it with marzipan, place the marzipan log along one of the long sides of the cake dough.
- Roll the cake dough over itself to form a log.
- Line the baking tray with baking paper and grease it with butter.
- Transfer the dough log to the tray and form a ring by fitting one end into a hole made with your finger at the other end, without forcing it.
- Let it rest for a few minutes and gradually widen the ring from the inside out to give it a larger diameter.
- If necessary, let it rest for a few more minutes and continue widening it.
- Optionally, bury the ceramic figurines at any point in the base of the ring and finish giving it the desired diameter.
- Let the ring rest for 2 hours or until it doubles in volume.
- When there is half an hour left before baking, preheat the oven to 200 ºC.
- Brush the surface with egg yolk beaten with a few drops of water.
- Arrange the candied fruit to decorate the cake, pressing it down lightly.
- Moisten the sugar with a few drops of water and sprinkle it over the cake.
- Bake at 200 ºC for about 15 minutes or 18 minutes.
- Lower the temperature to 180 ºC and bake it for 10 more minutes.
- Note: if it browns too much on top, you can cover it with aluminum foil.
Recommendations & Tricks
- It is a brioche dough.
- It is prepared the day before.
- If it browns too much on top, we can cover it with aluminum foil.
Original recipe
View or download the original PDF document.