King Solomon Cake

A Jewish twist on a New Orleans classic. This king cake is made using the Rosenblum family challah recipe filled with lox and cream cheese and topped with a Mardi Gras-inspired plethora of bagel toppings.

INGREDIENTS

For the Bread

A Rosenblum family recipe. If you make this you are required by law to give all credit and profits to Sheralyn Rosenblum. Technically she got it from Mrs. Kirshstein (my great-great-grand aunt?), so you are allowed to credit her, if you'd prefer.

• 7 g active yeast

• 1 tsp granulated sugar

• 1 cup warm water

• 2 large eggs

• 1/4 cup melted butter (or oil)

• 3 cups bread flour

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup poppy seeds (optional)

For the Filling

• 16 oz cream cheese

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1 egg yolk (save the egg white for the egg wash)

• 7-10 oz lox

For the Toppings

• 1/4 small red onion. diced

• 1/4 medium yellow bell pepper, diced

• 3-4 green onions, diced

• 8 oz cream cheese

• slices of red onion

• slices of seeded yellow tomato

• capers

METHOD

I am lucky enough to own a KitchenAid stand mixer and a food processor. While both are used in the methods below they are by no means required. Read italics for the more manual process.

Take out the cream cheese, butter, and eggs in advance to let the warm up to room temperature.

Dough

The challah is the main work in this recipe and will require two proofs, one after this first dough-making, and one after braiding and shaping. The family recipe does not call for poppy seeds, but they were added because if feels a bit more breakfast-y.

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Place 7 gs of yeast and 1 tsp sugar into 1/3 cup warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir gently and let sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast has bloomed.

Crack 2 eggs into the yeast mixture along with 1/4 cup of melted butter or oil. Mix on low speed until combined. I used the whisk attachment, but the dough hook would likely do just as well.

Sift in 3 cups of bread flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1/3 cup of sugar. With a dough hook

attachment, stir stir on a medium speed. Allow the hook to knead the dough until it forms a sticky ball. Add up to 1/4 cup water if the dough seems too dry.

Manual Edition:

In a large bowl, sift 3 cups of flour

Make a well in the middle of the flour

Pour yeast mixture into the well

Let stand 10-15 minutes, or until yeast mixture rises to reach the top of the flour

Around the top of the well (on the flour) sprinkle 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of salt

In a separate bowl beat 2 eggs

Add 1/4 cup melted butter or oil and 1/4 cup water to the well

Mix by hand until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl

If using poppy seeds, add and mix until incorporated

Turn out onto a floured surface

Knead until smooth

Oil a large bowl and empty or move the dough into it. Cover the bowl with a wet cloth and leave in a dry and warm spot for at least an hour to proof. It should double in size.

Filling

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Wipe down the stand mixer, if you used it, and put in the paddle attachment. A hand

mixer or a strong fork will likely work just fine.

In the bowl of the stand mixer add the 16 oz of cream cheese and mix at a medium speed. Once the cheese has softened, pause the mixing to add in an egg yolk and 2 tbsp of butter. Remember to save the egg white!

Mix until well combined.

You'll need the lox when you are actually filling the rolls, but it's pretty simple.

Rolls

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Once the dough has risen, punch it out and empty the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (maybe a silicone placemat). Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, roughly 42cm x 53cm.

Using a pastry roller or a knife cut the rectangle into thirds longways. This will leave you with three skinnier rectangles roughly 14cm x 53cm.

Clear the rolling surface to isolate a single skinny rectangle and roll it out a little wider, to around 16cm x 53cm. Spread one third of the cream cheese mixture leaving a small outline of dough on each edge.

Spread one third of the lox onto the cream cheese mixture. I broke it apart as pictured, but do whatever feels right to you!

Choose a side and gently roll the rectangle into a 53 cm long cylinder and set aside. Don't try to roll it too tightly, leave a bit of air.

Repeat the above steps with the remaining two rectangles.

Braid

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Prepare a large baking pan by lining it with parchment paper.

Once you have three rolls, line them up and stretch out any that seems shorter than their siblings until they are all about the same length.

Tightly braid the rolls together. While I did not do so, you could attempt to relay the rolls so that won't all link up at the same spot. It would be a challenge, but would also ensure every slice has some filling.

Once the rolls are fully braided, move the braid onto the prepared baking sheet and form an oval. Using some of the egg white (with a tbsp or two of water whisked in), connect the rolls to themselves while keeping the braiding pattern.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and store in a dry, warm spot for around an hour for the second proof.

Toppings

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Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Finely dice a quarter of a red onion, a quarter of a yellow bell pepper, and 3 or 4 green onions. Stir them into 8 oz of cream cheese. You can soften the cream cheese in a mixer or blender if you'd like. Press some plastic wrap tightly over the mixture and store in the refrigerator until the cake is fully baked.

King Solomon Cake

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Once fully proofed, brush the rest of the egg wash onto the braided bread and place in the oven on the center rack. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden brown.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes.

Spread the topping cream cheese mixture over the top and decorate with slices of red onion, yellow tomato and capers (or any other toppings you see fit).

Serve!