Mardi Gras is here and it time to celebrate. A key tradition throughout the South for Mardi Gras is the baking of the famous King Cake. The cake's origins date back to the feast of the Twelfth Night after Christmas which celebrates the three King's visit the Christ child. Tradition calls for the hiding of a tiny... plastic baby inside the cake. The person that eats the piece with the plastic baby in it gets to make the cake for the next year. The colors of Mardi Gras are green, representing faith; purple denoting justice and gold symbolizing power. Below is the traditional recipe for King Cake. Hope you all enjoy a fun and safe Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras King Cake
Ingredients
1 – 8 oz pkg cream cheese softened
1 egg, separated
½ tsp. each vanilla and almond extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 pkgs ready-to-bake crescent roll dough
½ cup canned pie filling, your choice
¼ cup each crushed pecans and raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350. Combine cream cheese, powered sugar, egg yolk and extracts. Mix until smooth. Unroll crescent rolls and place on cookie sheet with points towards center, overlapping as needed. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough, stopping ¾ inches from edges of dough. Mix pie filling, cinnamon, pecans and raisins. Spread this over cream cheese mixture. Fold outside edges over towards center, then center over that making sure to close any gaps to prevent filling from escaping. Brush with beaten egg whites. (Insert plastic baby somewhere in filling) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool and glaze with a mixture of ½ cup powdered sugar and 1 to 2 teaspoons milk, adjusting as needed for desired thickness. Sprinkle with colored sugar – purple, green and bright yellow (gold) for Mardi Gras. Colored sugars are easily made by adding food coloring to granulated sugar and shaking it up in a zip-lock bag.
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