Rasberry and Cream Cheese King Cake

Oh how I do love you King Cake. This is a conglomeration of Emeril's recipe and some of my experience in making cinnamon rolls. I am proud to be a Virginian, but sometimes, sometimes my heart is in NOLA. 

What you need: 

Dough: 

4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of white sugar
1 package of rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
3 large eggs
6 Tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup of buttermilk
Nonstick spray like "Pam" 

Filling: 

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese softened
1 cup of seedless raspberry jam 

Egg wash: 

1 egg

Decoration:

1 plastic baby 
1 cup of powdered sugar
4 teaspoons of water (or so) 
Sprinkles in green, gold, and purple 

What you do: 

1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together in your standing mixer's mixing bowl. 
2. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs
3. In a small sauce pan melt the butter, take off the heat and add the buttermilk. Mix the together and then slowly add to the eggs while mixing. (Scrambled eggs= bad)
4. With your mixer fitted with dough hook slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl. 
5. Fit the dough hook and let her go, kneading the dough until it comes away from the sides of the bowl. If it is still too sticky add a little flour, a Tablespoon at a time. 
6. Once you have a smooth, elastic dough, clean the bowl you whipped the eggs in. Spray the clean bowl with nonstick spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm dry place for an hour or so. 
7. Once the dough has doubled in size, flour a large cutting board or parchment paper.  Shape the dough using your hands and rolling pin to a large rectangle about 10 inches by 30 inches. 
8. Spread the cream cheese all over the dough leaving an inch or so on one of the long sides. 
9. Cover the cream cheese spread with the raspberry jam, again leaving an inch naked on the long side. 
10. Starting on the long side covered in cream cheese and jam, gentley lift and curl the edge on to the jam side, you are going to make a jelly roll. Continue to roll and lift until you have an inch left, the part that doesn't have any jam or cheese. 
11. Whisk and egg in a small bowl and with a pastry brush lightly brush some egg along the naked edge of the long side. Pinch the seam closed with your fingers. 
12. On a large rimmed baking sheet covered in parchment paper place the long jelly roll, join the edges and pinch together to make a circle. Cover in plastic wrap and leave to rise for about an hour. 
13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. 
14. Once risen, cover in a light layer of egg wash using a pastry brush. 
15. Bake  30 to 40 minutes testing with a skewer or toothpick to make sure the dough is cooked through. 
14. Let cool completely. Cut a small slit in the bottom of the cake and insert your small plastic baby. Place the cooled cake on your serving dish. 
15. Mix the powdered sugar and a teaspoon of water at time until you have a glaze at the consistency you want. I like it to run but very slowly. 
16. Decorate with your colored sprinkles. You may have to decorate with the sprinkles again before you serve it, if your glaze is runny and the sprinkle melt into it. Its ok if it does, it just makes the color more vibrant. 

Enjoy! Serve with chicory coffee or hurricanes. Make jokes about your friend who get's the baby. They have to make the cake next year. 

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking! 

Crockpot Jambalaya on the Bayou

So we had a bit of dinner party for Mardi Gras. It started out as a quiet dinner, but then with Hurricanes got louder, and funnier, and the next thing we know, it was 2 AM. Yup... I was worthless the next day. But I learned one important thing, what you serve at a dinner party doesn't matter as much as the fun friends you invite. I have a passion for good food so here is my Jambalaya recipe adapted from Emeril! This recipe feeds 8 hungry friends. 

What you need: 

2 chopped Spanish onions large
2 chopped green peppers
4 chopped celery stocks
6 minced garlic cloves
1 large can of chopped tomatoes with juice
6 cups of chicken stock
3 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons of Cajun Seasoning (I use Slap ya Mama)
1 Tablespoon of Worcester Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Crystal Hot Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
salt 
pepper 
8 links of Andouille Sausage, smoked 
1 chicken shredded, cooked 
1 pound of cleaned, deveined shrimp, raw

For serving: 
6 cups of cooked rice on the side 
Chopped fresh parsley
Crystal Hot Sauce
Hurricanes
King Cake 
Hilarious Friends
Great music

What you do: 

1. Wash and chop all of your produce (onions, peppers, celery, garlic) and chuck it in a crock pot set on high if you 4 hours or low if you eight. 
2. Add all of your juices (tomatoes and chicken stock)
3. Now tip in your seasoning (Cajun, Worcester, crystal, vinegar, salt, pepper)
4. Cover it loosely with foil and let it cook. 
5. 30 minutes before serving tip in the meats (sausage, chicken) 
6. 10 minutes before serving add the shrimpeys (RAW)
7. Serve it up... 

Enjoy with great friends, great music, plenty of Hurricanes and have a ball. Lots of love, many blessings, and Laissez les bons temps rouler!