Courtesy of Holly Clegg.
King cake is a tradition for Mardi Gras. According to Holly Clegg, author of Holly Clegg's Trim & Terrific: Gulf Coast Favorites (Compare Prices), "This sweet, cinnamon bread-like dough is shaped into a big circle, cooked and topped with icing, featuring Mardi Gras colors, purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power."
In classic king cakes, a plastic baby, representing the baby Jesus, is hidden inside. Whoever gets the baby, according to tradition, has to provide the next king cake. This king cake doesn't include the baby.
Ingredients:
- 2 8 oz. cans reduced-fat crescent rolls
- 4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
- 2 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- Mardi Gras Icing:
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1-2 Tbsp. skim milk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- yellow, green, red and blue food coloring
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 10-inch round pizza pan with cooking spray.
- Separate crescent rolls at perforations into 16 pieces. Arrange crescent rolls pieces in prepared pan in a circle, with points in the center. About halfway down from points, press seams together.
- Beat cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until creamy. Spread over dough where seams have been pressed together.
- In a small bowl, using a fork, combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over cream cheese. Fold dough points over filling, then fold bottom of dough triangles over points, forming a circular roll, like a king cake.
- Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool slightly. Drizzle king cake with Mardi Gras icing.
- Combine all ingredients, except food coloring in a small bowl, until it reaches the consistency of icing. Divide into three bowls.
- Add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the first bowl of icing. Mix well. Add a few drops of green food coloring to the second bowl of icing. Mix well. Add equal parts of red and blue food coloring to the third bowl to make purple.
- Drizzle icings over baked king cake.
