Mardi Gras (or anytime) King Cake

I'm not Catholic, I've never been to Louisiana and I've certainly never "earned" any beads, but I love the season of Mardi Gras and Lent.

I've been observing Lent since I was 10 or 11 and the idea of self sacrifice for religious, and personal clarity has always resonated with me. I usually give up a few things that I love and I struggle to go without for 40 days and last year I started adding commitments - of things I don't do often enough. This year, I'm giving up french fries, all but one non-water drink a day and am going to "perform" an additional mile of exercise a day (on a bike, running, walking etc.). 

And before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday (March 5), I've been binging on my favorite sweet drinks and salty treats and obviously, not exercising regularly. But the best tradition before Lent begins is the big party of Fat Tuesday and its perfect dish - King Cake. 

Mardi Gras King Cake is a traditional dish in honor of the three wise men who visited Jesus as a baby and is eaten in celebration of the Lenten season. It's like a danish, cinnamon roll style dough, sometimes filled, but full of sweet cinnamon and buttery dough and covered with sweet icing or sugar in the colors of Mardi Gras - purple, gold and green (there are several variations in different cultures, like Mexican rosca de reyes which has more of a fruit cake flavor with sugared cherries and fruit pieces).  For Mardi Gras, a plastic baby (originally in honor Jesus) is poked through the underside of the cake and hidden inside. The person who received the piece with the trinket has to buy next year's cake or throw the next party. 

This recipe is a quick and easy version that, thankfully, doesn't involve actually making a yeast dough (I am terrified of using dry yeast) and is prepared in less than an hour. To me, the hardest part is the geometry of making a half-way decent circle shape and dying the icing and/or sugars just the right colors. 

Technically, this is a Fat Tuesday specialty but it is delicious year round and would make a wonderful dish for any breakfast, tea time (I assume people do that), bridal shower, holiday party or any time you're seeking a sweet, simple pastry. You can dye the icing/sugars to suit any color scheme or leave them plain white. 

Bon appetite and laissez les bons temps rouler! 

Mardi Gras-Style King Cake 

Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 c. raisins - golden or purple

1/2 c pecan halves (optional; I suggest including unless you have an allergy)

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

1 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 tablespoons milk or half and half

1 tsp vanilla extract

Purple, green and yellow colored sugar or food coloring

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Soak raisins in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes; drain and pat dry (this will make them beautifully plump and tender). 

Blend cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins in the bowl of a food processor. Add the pecan halves and pulse until the pecans are 1/4" pieces. 

Unroll crescent dough and separate into triangles. Position triangles next to each other with the points toward the center, overlapping the long sides about a 1/4" - this will form a large round. Where the pieces overlap pinch the seams together in the middle of the seam - leave the ends unsealed so you can fold them. 

Visual example thanks to About.Com

Spread the cream cheese filling around the ring covering the center sealed seam. 

Fold the short side of each triangle toward the center, just covering the filling. Pull the point end of the triangles to fully enclose the filling, tuck under the points and lightly press the seams. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature. 

Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk or half-and-half (start with 2 T) and vanilla until smooth. This icing should be thick, so slowly add more liquid. Spoon the icing over the ring and allow it to drip over the sides. If you are using colored sugars sprinkle them in wide swaths across the cake. If using food coloring - separate your icings into three bowls and dye them accordingly and pour over individual sections of the cake. 

When it has cooled, you can push the plastic baby in through the bottom into a slice. Note: Some recipes suggest putting a dried bean into the cake, but this is small enough to choke on and hard enough to unexpectedly break a tooth - either do the big plastic token or skip it all together.