Easy Mardi Gras King Cake Recipe (12 to 16 servings)
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 4 ounces (half of a large block) cream cheese
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup raisins, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, drained, and patted dry on paper towels
- 1/2 cup pecan halves
Cake:
- 2 rolls (total of 12 individual crescent rolls) refrigerated crescent rolls in the can.
Icing:
- 1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
- 3 to 4 Tablespoon (about) milk or cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Purple, green, and yellow colored sugar crystals or food coloring
Preparation:
Place cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until combined. Add pecan halves and pulse until pecans are chopped to about 1/4-inch pieces. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a pizza pan or baking sheet with butter-flavored vegetable oil.
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 each 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 or dried bean somewhere in the filling. (The person who gets this piece will have good luck for the year.)
Fold the short side of each triangle toward the center just to the edge of the filling to cover. Then pull the point end of the triangles toward the outer rim of the pan to fully enclose the filling, tucking under the points. Lightly press the seams.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla until smooth. The consistency should be fairly thick, but still thin enough to slowly drip down the sides. Add more milk as necessary. Spoon the icing in a ring over the top of the King Cake and allow it to slowly drip down the sides.
Decorate with wide stripes of purple, green, and yellow colored sugar crystals to give it a Mardi Gras look.
