Strawberry Cream Cheese Kings Cake Pastry

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Hey y’all.  Well it’s that time of the year when we all celebrate Mardi Gras.  I have made many Kings Cakes in past, so this year I decided to change it around some and make a Kings Cake as a breakfast danish.   The creaminess of the cream cheese mixed with the strawberry’s and the light crunch of the colored sugar is a wonderful combination.  Y’all are going to be making this year round, maybe not with the colored sugars, but y’all will want it quite often.  I think I will try it with some blueberry or even raspberries next time.

Pastry:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup fresh strawberry’s
• 1/2 cup sugar

Icing:

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• colored sugars (yellow/green/purple)

1. Combine your prepared strawberries (sliced thin) and sugar in bowl and put in refrigerator for about an hour. (overnight is even better)
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk very well to distribute the salt and baking powder into the flour.
3. With a pastry cutter or two forks, cut half of the cream cheese and the butter into the flour mixture as you would butter into flour making biscuits.
4. Quickly and gently blend in the milk.  Don’t over mix.
   Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead VERY LIGHTLY for 4-5 strokes, again like making biscuits.
   NOTE This is where you can ruin your danish pastry. If you overwork the dough, the pastry will be quite tough and chewy. Just get the dough together and don’t worry about making it too smooth. If it still looks a little bit rough and lumpy, that is perfect.  Gently roll the dough into a 8- by 12-inch rectangle.
5. Turn dough out onto a lightly greased baking sheet.  I like to roll it out on waxed paper so it’s easily transferable to the baking sheet.
6. Measure and mark the dough into half making two 6×8 sections.
7. Spread the remaining cream cheese (or slice and spread) over one of the 6×8 sections, keeping it about ½ inch from the 3 open sides.
8. Spread your strawberry mixture over the cream cheese.
9. Fold the empty section of pastry over the covered section.
10. Make a couple slices in the top of pastry to let out steam.
11. Bake in a 425° oven for 12-15 minutes, until the dough is lightly browned on top.
12. In a small glass bowl, combine the sugar, milk, and vanilla.
13. Drizzle over the top of the pastry.
14. Sprinkle with the colored sugars while the icing is still wet.