Louisiana Saturday Night!

I am writing this blog while listening to Alabama's version of "Louisiana Saturday Night", maybe I'm a tad homesick. I have gumbo cooking on the stove top and Hubs helped me make our first King Cake. It's Mardi Gras season ya'll! King Cake has a pretty interesting history, for the best explanation check it out here.

Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to find a fabulous King Cake recipe from none other than Holly Clegg! I am a huge fan of her trim&TERRIFIC cook books. I love that she resides in Baton Rouge too, so who else could come up with a fantastic King Cake recipe? I wanted to share this simple recipe with all of you and even if you don't usually celebrate Mardi Gras, do you really need a reason to make cake?

King Cake with Cream Cheese Cinnamon Filling

Makes 16 servings

2 (8-ounce) cans reduced-fat crescent rolls
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Coat 10-inch round pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray.

*I used my Pampered Chef stone, so I didn't need cooking spray*

2. Separate crescent rolls at perforations, into 16 slices. Place slices around prepared pan with points in center. About halfway down from points, press seams together.

Our crescent rolls all laid out

 3. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Spread on dough in center where seams have been pressed together.
 

4. In another small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over cream cheese. Fold dough points over filling, then fold bottom of triangle over points forming a circular roll like a king cake.

*Funny story, Hubs and I both somehow managed to blend step 3 with the first part of step 4. Meaning instead of having 2 bowls of stuff, we had everything in one bowl. Oops!*

See how all the ingredients are in one bowl?

Not going to lie, Hubs did most of the work I just made the icing and took pictures

I did "test" the cream cheese filling, I apologize for not having any make-up on!

Spreading the cream cheese mixture around the dough

All rolled up and ready for the oven!

5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly, drizzle with colored Mardi Gras Icing.

Mardi Gras Icing:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yellow, Green, Red, & Blue food colorings

1. In small bowl, combine all ingredients, except food color. Divide mixture into three bowls.
2. In first bowl, add a few drops of yellow food coloring. In second bowl, add a few drops of green food coloring. In third bowl, add equal amounts of drops of red and blue food coloring (to create purple).
3. Drizzle over baked cake.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories 184 Calories from fat 36% Fat 7 g Saturated Fat 3 g Cholesterol 9 mg Sodium 275 mg Carbohydrate 26 g Dietary Fiber 0 g Sugars 16 g Protein 3 g Diabetic Exchanges 11/2 carbohydrate 11/2 fat

Ta-Da, King Cake! I was so excited I could hardly wait to eat it and it was just as yummy as it looked. And did you see it was only 184 Calories per serving? Even though we messed up steps 3 & 4, I don't see how it made any difference in the outcome. Just one less bowl we had to clean up afterwards. When I made the icing I was worried it wouldn't be enough when looking at it in the 3 small bowls, but after spreading it on the warm cake it thinned out and was just the right amount. 

Overall, I give this 5 stars! Hubs liked it too, his only comment was he wished it didn't taste so much like crescent rolls. I did not notice an overly crescent roll-y taste, maybe because I was paying attention to the yummy cream cheese & sugar BUT for how easy it was to make, Hubs said it was amazing.

As much as I want to sit down and devour this entire cake right now, I must wait for our turkey & deer sausage gumbo to finish cooking! We made it with the leftover turkey from our Christmas dinner.

By the time the gumbo is ready, we should be getting settled in for the Saints game! This is the closest I'll get to a Louisiana Saturday Night for awhile.