**World’s First Grain & Sugar-Free King Cake** (with Dairy-Free Option)

I thought I was taking a break from creating recipes since my Cookbook was published, but I was challenged this year by a few people, one being my friend from untilthethinladysings.com to create a grain and sugar-free King Cake.  She also is surrounded by these tempting cakes.  I accepted the challenge!

Cream Cheese Icing….yummy!

So, here is my version.  The batter is the secret part.  I used a basic pop-over batter.  I had never heard of popovers until making them in a nutrition class in college.  The batter is simple: eggs, flour, milk and sometimes butter.  I kept mine simple and didn’t add any butter but added vanilla and of course Stevia Select Stevia.  The leavening comes from the hot pan (I used a pretty bundt pan) and the steam from the eggs and milk.  Traditional popovers are made in popover pans or cupcake pans and they puff up pretty high and are hollow on the inside.  I took advantage of that hollow part by baking in my favorite fillings.

The fillings I chose were based off of an Apple Pie-Cheesecake-Pecan Pie I had created a few years ago.  Such a great flavor combination!   I am already envisioning spin off recipes such as Cinnamon “rolls” and even Sub-sandwich buns!

Apple, cream cheese & pecan filling.

The key to this cake is a hot oven, preheated pan and not to open the oven door even to peak!  This is the hard part. The recipe may look a bit grooling, but the individual parts are VERY easy.  The batter is the easiest part of all.  Toss all ingredients in blender and blend, voila!

Sweeteners of choice:
For those of you who have followed my blog and purchased my cookbook, you know that I use Stevia Select Stevia in all of my sweet recipes. I will also on occasion, use a minuscule amount of honey to get that extra sweetness without risking bitterness which could occur from using too much Stevia.  I made 3 separate trial runs of the King Cake. One I used honey as my additional sweetener, one version I used coconut sugar and the last I used xylitol.  The sweetness was all the same the key is which sweetener you prefer to use.  The key is to taste every stage of the recipe so that the final result will be the correct sweetness for YOUR pallet!   Again, taste your batter!

Virtue Sweetener

I have also added the measurements for Virtue Sweetener. It is a great product that is 4 times as sweet as sugar so you only need 1/4 the amount that you would of a recipe that calls for sugar.

Note For Dairy-Free Version
I have added variations to recipe to make dairy free.  I was quite surprised how good the dairy free version tasted.  I made a mini one with unsweetened almond milk and one with coconut milk and really couldn’t tell the difference.  Of course, omit the cheesecake filling and instead of the cream cheese based icing, a drizzle of raw honey is all that is needed.

Cheesecake Filling (OMIT FOR DAIRY-FREE VERSION)
5 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon Stevia Select Powder or 1-1/2 tablespoons Virtue Sweetener or sweetener of choice, to taste

Add cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sweetener to medium bowl and blend until smooth.  Taste for sweetness and adjust if needed.  Set aside and prepare crumble:

Pecan Crumble
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon  Stevia Select Powder or 1 tablespoon Virtue Sweetener, to taste
1 tablespoon additional sweetener (optional)
1 tablespoon salted butter, melted (use coconut oil for dairy-free)

To a small bowl add pecans, cinnamon, sweetener and butter.  Mix until pecans are well coated.  Taste for sweetness and adjust if necessary.

By now, the bundt pan should be preheated.  Carefully remove bundt pan from hot oven.  Using pastry brush or paper towel, be sure to get butter all over the sides of bunt pan (at least the lower half).  Work quickly but carefully. Next pour in half of popover batter (eyeball amount).  Then using tablespoon, spoon cheesecake mixture evenly over batter.  Next, sprinkle pecan crumble over cheesecake mixture and finish with remaining batter.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes, being sure not to open oven door.  After 20 minutes, turn off oven and leave in for an additional 5 minutes.  Carefully remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Cake will fall after the 10 minutes.  This is normal.  Before attempting to remove, use butter knife and go around all edges to make sure cake is loosened.   Place plate on top of cake and invert.  You may have to give it a good “knockin” for it to come out.

**Note:  I made 3 large cakes and 2 smaller ones when testing this recipe.  The first big one came out beautifully, the second broke and the 3rd came out 99%.  If any breakage occurs, it will be covered by icing so don’t panic too much!

While cake is baking, prepare apple filling & cream cheese icing:

Apple Filling
2 small apples (I used gala), cored, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon salted butter (omit for dairy free version)
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Stevia Select Powder or 1 tablespoon Virtue sweetener, or to taste

Place apples, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and sweetener in small saucepan.  Stir. Cover and cook on low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Taste for sweetness and add more sweetener if desired.  Turn off heat.  While cooking apples, prepare icing:

Cream Cheese Icing (OMIT FOR DAIRY-FREE VERSION)
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup half & half or milk (or other dairy but NOT heavy cream)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Up to 1/4 teaspoon Stevia Select Powder or 1 tablespoon Virtue sweetener, or to taste 
1 teaspoon additional sweetener (optional)
1/4 cup chopped nuts or Candied Pecans (optional)

For cream cheese icing, blend cream cheese, milk, vanilla and sweetener in a medium bowl until smooth.  Taste for sweetness and adjust if needed.

**DAIRY FREE ICING
Drizzle just a bit of raw honey over prepared King Cake along with chopped nuts.

FINAL ASSEMBLY:

Take King Cake, which has been inverted onto a plate, and using another plate, invert it back to where the flat side of cake is up.  Top with cooked apples and some of icing. Invert cake back to serving dish.  The apples should be on bottom and cake on top.   (If you like, you can serve the cake any way you like it, putting apples on top).  Next, top with icing (or raw honey for dairy free) and additional pecans if desired.  To get the colors of Mardi Gras without the colored sugar sprinkles which are traditionally used, fill center of cake with colored Mardi Gras beads.  Want a baby, in your cake?? Get it HERE.

Serve cold or room temperature. You could also purchase a plastic baby and insert it into cake before serving.

**Dairy Free Version- Great warm or room temperature.