This quick & easy Cinnamon Roll King Cake recipe celebrates traditional New Orleans flavor and eliminates the need to make a yeast bread from scratch. You’ll be enjoying soft and delicious Mardi Gras King Cakes with cream cheese frosting and sugar toppings in just 35 minutes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Traditional King Cake requires making a bread dough that you have to knead and wait to rise before you can even start making the “cake.” This quick & easy short cut recipe eliminates all of that work with yeast and such and let’s you enjoy a delicious King Cake in just about 35 minutes!
- These Easy Cinnamon Roll King Cakes are way more delicious than any of the store bought King Cakes I’ve ever had (plus, if you find yourself living away from Louisiana or the gulf coast of Mississippi or Alabama, your local bakery may not carry any…)
- This recipe can be used to make 6 inch cakes/buns that are perfect for slicing and sharing or 3 inch cakes/buns that are ideal for parties and feeding a crowd!
RELATED RECIPES: Easy Louisiana Biscuit Beignets, Homemade Cinnamon Roll Coffee Creamer
What is King Cake & Why is It Tradition?
Over 750,000 king cakes are said to be baked & enjoyed every year during the Mardi Gras season. That, my friend, is a lot of cake! So what makes King Cake different from other cakes.
First of all, authentic King Cake really isn’t cake. It’s more of lightly sweetened, cinnamon braided brioche bread, topped with icing and colored sugars. Think more bread-like cinnamon roll than cake. Lots of modern king cake versions also include fillings, like chocolate, fruit or cheesecake.
Secondly, eating King Cake is steeped in important tradition. The first king cake of the carnival season is usually served on Epiphany and continues to be served until Lenten begins. It is aptly named after the 3 wise men (also called the 3 kings) who visited Jesus after his birth. A tiny plastic baby, bean, or a coin is placed inside or underneath the cake as a symbol of the wise men’s visit.
The baby represents the infant Christ, while the bean or the coin represent the gifts the kings’ presented the Christ child. The person who finds the hidden goody in his piece of cake is named “king for the day” and must host the next gathering with the next king cake!
RELATED POST: Let’s Talk King Cake & Other Fat Tuesday Traditions
Ingredients for Easy Cinnamon Roll King Cakes
- canned jumbo cinnamon rolls (must be the rolled kind)
- cream cheese
- whipping cream
- purple, green, yellow (or gold) sanding sugars or sprinkles
How To Make Braided Cinnamon Roll King Cakes
Unroll. After opening the cans of cinnamon rolls, remove the rolls and unroll the strips of dough.
Twist. Take two strips of dough and twist together by laying one strip over the other and repeating until the 2 strips are completely twisted together, being careful not to stretch the dough. Start and finish as close to the ends of the strips as possible. Holding the ends of the twisted dough, give the strips one final twist to tighten it all up.
Wrap. Turn one end of the dough inward to create a center and wrap the rest of the twist around the center to create a spiral bun. Tuck the end underneath the bun to hide it. Then bake!
King Cake Cream Cheese Icing & Sugar Toppings
Empty the icing provided with the cinnamon rolls into a mixing bowl. Add softened cream cheese and whipping cream. Use a mixer to whip icing until fluffy. Spoon it over the king cakes and top with purple, yellow and green sanding sugars or sprinkles.
Purple, green and yellow are the 3 colors of Mardi Gras. Purple= justice, Green= faith, Gold/yellow= power.
Storing & Freezing King Cakes
You can store leftover king cakes in an air tight container for 1 day. You can also make them 1 day ahead of your celebration. However, I think these king cakes are at their best when they eaten the day they’re made.
If you need to freeze your king cakes, it’s best to freeze them before they’ve been iced and sugared, freezing the icing separately. Allow the cakes to thaw on the counter and the icing to thaw in the refrigerator.
Other Mardi Gras Must-Haves
Whether you are local and looking for one of your favorite dishes to whip up or far away and missing a bit of home, here are 17 must-have recipes to put a little Louisiana on your table any day of the year!
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Ingredients
- 3 cans jumbo cinnamon rolls (5 rolls in each can)
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit. Grease 2 baking sheets or use a silicon baking mat to line the baking sheets.
- After opening the cans of cinnamon rolls, remove the rolls and unroll them, creating 5 strips of dough.
- Take two strips of dough and twist together by laying one strip over the other and repeating until the 2 strips are completely twisted together, being careful not to stretch the dough. Start and finish as close to the ends of the strips as possible. Holding the ends of the twisted dough, give the strips one final twist to tighten it all up.
- Turn one end of the dough inward to create a center and wrap the rest of the twist around the center to create a spiral bun. Tuck the end underneath the bun to hide it. Place buns on baking sheets and bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are no longer gooey in the middle. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Empty the icing provided with the cinnamon rolls into a mixing bowl. Add softened cream cheese and whipping cream. Use a mixer to whip icing until fluffy. Spoon it over the king cakes and top with purple, yellow and green sanding sugars or sprinkles.
Notes
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