Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

When I was in graduate school one of my classmates was originally from Louisiana.  She was absolutely shocked that school wasn't canceled to celebrate Mardi Gras.  Apparently Mardi Gras is a major deal in Louisiana and kids get the entire week off from school!  Since we were still holding class on Mardi Gras she brought a King Cake for us to enjoy during the lecture.  King Cakes are made of pastry and are usually filled with some sort of cream cheese concoction.  They are delicious!  Ever since then I have always tried to have a piece of King Cake on Mardi Gras!  This year I found an easy recipe and decided to give it a try.

Filling

4 ounces (half a package) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup pecans

Cake

Two cans refrigerated crescent roll dough

Icing

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 to 4 tablespoons milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

food coloring

Place cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins in a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Process until combined.  And pecans and pulse until pecans are chopped.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray a pizza pan with butter-flavored cooking spray.

Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into triangles.  Position triangles next to each other with the points toward the center, overlapping the long sides about 1/4 inch, forming a large round.  Where the pieces overlap, press the seams together only in the center of the seam, leaving either ends of the seams unsealed so you can fold them up over the filling.

Spread the filling around in a ring covering the center sealed seam of each triangle.

Place a small plastic baby (optional but traditional) somewhere in the filling.  The person who gets this piece will have good luck for the year!

Fold the large side of each triangle toward the center and tuck under the filling.  Then pull the point end of the triangle toward the outer rim of the pan and tuck under the cake.  It should look something like this.

Bake 20 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla until smooth.  The consistency should be fairly thick, but thin enough to drip slowly down the sides.  Add more milk if necessary.  Divide icing evenly into three bowls.  Use food coloring to create a bowl of purple (justice), a bowl of yellow (power), and a bowl of green (faith) icing.  Put each color of icing into a ziploc bag.  Snip off one corner of the bag and use as a pastry bag to pipe wide stripes of icing on the King Cake.  The icing should firm up a bit in about an hour.  If you are planning a Mardi Gras celebration, definitely give this a try!  Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll).