I live in Louisiana, and that is awesome. Mainly because there is this thing called King Cake. I am an actual Cajun with a grandmother and many other family members who grew up speaking only French. My cousin hunts alligator, I can cajun dance and peel crawfish, the house my husband and I are building is on a bayou surrounded by wetlands (more on that to come), and I grew up with the most amazing food (thanks mom). I thought all these things were just normal life for everyone in the world until I was old enough to realize that everyone else is deprived.
The traditional king cake recipe is basically a cinnamon-sugar bread concoction that uses yeast to rise and basically takes forever. I have never attempted that one and probably never will because this one is soooo easy (and amazingly good).
I received this recipe from a good friend (shout out to Lynette!) who lives in a tiny Cajun town called Ville Platte. This is the kind of place where people still speak in French at the corner store and chase chickens to make a gumbo – which is super fun by the way (check out the Kajun Kids video about a talking Mardi Gras chicken). So even though this isn’t the traditional recipe, it is the one I make every year (and pretty much every other day during King Cake season actually). My husband even requests the cake to bring to his coworkers, so that’s a huge sign that it is worthy of the big dogs. The added bonus? It’s a piece of cake to make.
Here is a bit of King Cake history if you want blow the minds of all your friends with your amazing Louisiana knowledge.
Now, for the cake.
Preheat the oven and whatnot.
Spread the crescent rolls out in a ring, and be sure to seal the seams by pressing them together. This will minimize the amount of escaping the filling will do during baking. There is no science to the layout. Sometimes I use one can, and sometimes I throw in a few extra rolls to fill the gaps. Just make a circle and make it pretty!
Combine the powdered sugar and cream cheese – use more sugar if you want a sweeter cake. You may want to soften the cream cheese and possibly use a mixer. I find a quick stirring job usually does the trick though.
Melt the butter and combine the brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a separate bowl until it is crumbly. If it isn’t crumbly, add more brown sugar. The crumbliness will help prevent filling escape during baking.
Layer those two mixtures on the crescent rolls and top with the remaining rolls. Sometimes I buy an extra can of crescents to fill in any gaps. Seal the seams by pressing them together and, voila, you are ready to bake. Bake for about 12 minutes or so and then let cool.
I am sure there is an amazing homemade cream cheese icing recipe out there, but for time saving purposes I usually use the store bought whipped cream cheese icing to spread over the top of the cake. I love to decorate with sprinkles, but food coloring is also fun 🙂 And don’t forget the baby Jesus! We usually place him somewhere in the cake after baking but before adding icing to prevent melting and whatnot. Also, don’t choke on him!
And for your viewing pleasure, a pic of my son and my niece in traditional mardi gras costumes hand sewn by my mom. So fun!
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