King's Cake

Mardi Gras, or "fat Tuesday," is coming up and while we New Yorkers may not have the magical parades, flashy beads and overall drunken debauchery as some places, we can still celebrate. We believe that any and all celebrations call for a cake, and Mardi Gras is no different. Why not make a King's Cake to go with those yummy Mardi Gras drinks you're undoubtably mixing? Traditionally, a small plastic baby is hidden in the cake and whoever finds it is crowned king for the night. However, to escape potential choking hazards, we thought it best to replace the plastic baby with a whole almond. But if you really want to go for it, you can find them at party supply stores or on Amazon. We used refrigerated crescent rolls for the cake in order to simplify things.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Total Time: 55 min

Ingredients:
For the filling:
4 ounces cream cheese (half a block)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecan halves

For the cake:
2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls (like Pillsbury)

For the icing:
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla vanilla extract
Purple, green, and yellow sanding sugar*

Note: you can find sanding sugar at cooking/baking shops like Broadway Panhandler on 8th Street between Broadway and Mercer or NY Cake

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Soak the raisins in hot water for about 15 minutes and pat dry.

3. While the raisins are soaking, chop the pecans into small pieces and set aside.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon.
5. Fold the raisins and pecans into the cream cheese mixture and set aside.

6. Unroll the two crescent dough rolls and layer them on top of each other without tearing them into triangles.
7. Roll out the dough, pressing them together into one single sheet.
8. Spread the filling around in the center and place the almond or the plastic baby wherever you like.

9. Taking the edge closest to you, roll the dough until you have formed a log.

10. Press the seams together and transfer to the baking sheet.

11. Pinch the ends together to make a circle. It should look like an extremely large bagel.

12. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
13. While the cake bakes, make the glaze by whisking together the milk, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.

14. Drizzle it over the cooled cake and sprinkle the colored sanding sugar over the top.

*If you make it like the one pictured, we discovered that it's too thick to cook through.

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