Gangsta King Cake

When I was in college, I had the privilege of going to Mardi Gras with some New Orleans natives. My friend D’s family graciously hosted us and showed us the all about the all day parades, the French Quarter, the beads, the balconies…the King Cake! I have some hazy memories of my friend’s sister rapidly churning out King Cakes as fast as the twenty or so of us college kids could down them, chased with some jack n’ coke or frozen strawberry daiquiri from gallon jugs. There was almost nothing better to fuel our Mardi Gras adventure! The recipe below is from my vague memory of how my friend’s sister made the cakes, plus some additions. It’s a very quick n’ dirty recipe that tastes SOOOO good! I know we are a little late for mardi gras, but I’m sure this cake would be tasty on any occasion; just use different colored sprinkles!

Ingredients:

- 2 pillsbury crescent roll packages

- 2 packages of cream cheese/or fat free cream cheese

- 1.5 cups confectioners sugar

- Chopped Fresh fruit (strawberries & blueberries were great!)

- colored sugar/sprinkles

1. Heat the oven to 350.

2. In a food processor, combine the cream cheese & sugar until smooth. Taste the cream to see if it is the right sweetness for you and add more sugar as needed.

This stuff is dangerous!! OMG i want a bathtub full of this!

2. Open one crescent roll package. Split the dough in half into two long pieces to form a circle by pressing the ends together. Press together any seams that are pulling apart so that you form a solid base for your king cake.

3. Using a spatula, spread the cream cheese on the dough circle leaving about 3/4 inch margin around the edges.

4. Place the fruit in the middle of the circle.

5. Open the other crescent roll package and separate into the triangles along the pre-marked seams. Take a triangle and lay the shortest side along the outside of the circle and connect the point to the inside of the circle. Repeat with all the other pieces of dough to cover the top of the cake. Use a fork to seal all the edges. Should look like this:

6. Decorate the top of the cake with stripes of mardi gras colored sprinkles (or whatever color you wish!)

7. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until edges of the cake are golden brown.

Let the cake cool down for a a few minutes before you dig into this rich, tasty, deliciousness! It’s not Healthy, but it sure is Hot & Delicious!