KING CAKE IN THE CROCK POT

Alright I just had to try this! Here it is ready to go just before Fat Tuesday. One of my co- workers and I were talking about Mardi Gras one day and she commented that she had never eaten a King Cake. Well then I commented that I had never made one before. So I decided we needed to correct those wrongs. After googling and finding what I thought would be an easy recipe I decided to vamp it some more and put it in the crock pot. It turned out pretty amazing if I say so myself. The pictures do not do it justice. The cake was very light and sweet, the filling was lemony and cheesy, and the icing with the sprinkles just made it all the sweeter. I decided I would make it at work so at 6:00 in the morning I took the bread dough out of my freezer. It thawed by 9:00, so after breakfast I was able to roll it out, make the lemon cream cheese filling, roll it up, and add the little plastic baby. It sat and rose until after lunch when I put it in the crock pot and let it cook for 2 hours. I took it out and let it cool off, iced it and it was ready for tea time. I think everyone really enjoyed it. It was gone within 15 minutes. The Rhodes bread dough came in a bag of 3 loaves so I can actually make 2 more flavors of king cake if I don’t just eat the bread the way it comes. I can change the flavor by just changing the lemon for strawberry, blueberry, cinnamon, or even adding some chocolate to the cream cheese would be awesome. Some people might even try Nutella if they like the hazelnut flavor. I think I’ll stick with the berries or chocolate myself. Like I said the pictures don't do it justice. I think it kind of deflated a little. I texted the picture of the finished product to a friend of mine who texted back that it looked like an internal organ. We ate it anyway. So give it a try. I don't think you'll be sorry. It was really good! Drop me a line and let me know how it comes out.

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 Rhodes frozen bread loaf
1 8oz. block of cream cheese
1 cup of powdered sugar
1 tsp. of lemon
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ cups of powdered sugar
¼ - ½ cup of water
Purple, green, and yellow sugar sprinkles

DIRECTIONS:

First let the bread dough thaw to room temperature. It will rise in a couple of hours. Then flour a cookie sheet and roll the dough out to a 10 x 18 inch rectangle and let rest. In a bowl combine the cream cheese, 1 cup of powdered sugar, and lemon extract. Then spread the filling over the dough. Brush one of the lengthwise edges of the dough with the beaten egg. Start rolling up the dough lengthwise by the other side. Pinch the seam together and form it into a ring. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise one more time for about an hour. Now place a piece of parchment paper in the crock pot and spray it with PAM. This will keep the dough from sticking and burning. Place the cake into the crock pot and cover. Cook on high for 1 ½ - 2 hours until the dough springs back and is done. It won’t be brown but you’re icing it anyway. After its done remove it from the crock pot and let it cool off. Then mix together the 1 ½ cup of powdered sugar and water to make the glaze. Spoon over the cake, then sprinkle with the colored sugar sprinkles.