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You are here: Home / DIY Tutorials / tutorials / Easy 30 Minute King Cake Recipe for Mardi Gras

February 25, 2014

Easy 30 Minute King Cake Recipe for Mardi Gras

While we don’t go overboard with a huge Mardi Gras party every year, we do like to at least celebrate the season and Fat Tuesday with a little bit of carnivale. One of the most identified and unique Mardi Gras dishes, besides cajun favorites like jambalaya and red beans, is the king cake.

easy king cake

I know I remember them most about Mardi Gras as a kid; our family used to ship us one wherever we happen to be living. But you don’t have to live near a fabulous bakery in New Orleans to have one; with this recipe, you can whip a king cake up in less than 30 minutes!

Just a little background on the king cake for those of you that are not familiar, the king cake was originally baked in New Orleans as part of little Christmas when the three kings visited the Christ child.

The tradition of serving this cake continues to this day, but with much more fanfare. A danish dough is braided into a ring or oval shape and covered with sugar toppings in the Mardi Gras colors of gold, green and purple. A tiny plastic (or porcelain or gold) baby is inserted into the cake–whoever is served the baby is asked to host the next Mardi Gras party.

easy king cake-1

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a printable recipe. But first, a step by step for you to see how it’s done.

You’re going to want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet (like this) with parchment paper.

easy king cake

This is the part that makes making this cake so easy. Crescent rolls in a tube. I picked up a tube in the 12 oz size, then rolled it out on my parchement-ed cookie sheet.

easy king cake

The crescents are naturally going to want to fight you and separate all apart, but if you gently pinch together the seams, you’ll get a big long piece of dough you can work with.

easy king cakeeasy king cake

We’re going to mix up a filling now! Filling, by the way, is completely optional on a king cake. You can skip the filling and move straight onto braiding and frosting if you want. The filling used here is cream cheese and pecans.

Mix 4 oz softened cream cheese with 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and spread it along the center of your dough. After you do this, cut a few slits in the sides of the dough to make flaps that can be folded over the filling.

easy king cakeeasy king cake

Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar over the cream cheese and 1/2 cup chopped pecans over top of that.

easy king cake

Fold the flaps over the filling to make a “braid” and pinch together any holes along the bottom so the cream cheese doesn’t leak out while it’s baking.

easy king cake

Scoot your roll over to one long side of the pan then gently shape it into a circle/oval. Pop it into your preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

 

easy king cake

While you’re waiting for your cake to cook, mix up the frosting, as you’re going to want to apply it to the cake while the cake is still warm.

Mix together 3 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup water with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. This mixture will be rather thick, but not to worry. It’ll stay put on top of your cake and beautifully drip down the sides. When your cake is out of the oven, spread it in a ribbon around the top of the cake, a section at a time.

You have to work quick to add your sprinkles before the icing hardens after you put on the icing.

easy king cake

The finishing touch is the baby (buy them here). Slip it under the cake and see who gets to hit the kitchen next to bake up another cake!


easy king cake

Looking for some decorations to go with your celebration? Here are a few things I love to have around the house during Mardi Gras (affl. links):

  • Mardi Gras Costume Props
  • Mardi Gras Theme Paper Straws
  • Mardi Gras Cupcake Liners with Pick
  • Mardi Gras Plates, Napkins with Rue Bourbon Design
  • Metallic Mardi Gras Beads
  • Jumbo Mardi Gras Bead Necklace
  • Mardi Gras Plastic Coins
  • Mardi Gras Mask Masquerade Costume with Feather and LED
  • Amscan Vibrant Mardi Gras Party Crown & Mask Swirl Ceiling Decorating Kit
  • Mardi Gras 72″ Costume Accessory Feather Boa
  • Mardi Gras Metallic Fringe Table Skirt
  • Amscam Mardi Gras Bow Headband with Ribbon
Easy 30 Minute King Cake Recipe

Easy 30 Minute King Cake Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • CAKE
  • 1 12oz tube refrigerated crescent rolls
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • FROSTING
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Purple, gold and green sugar sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Roll out tube of crescent rolls on parchment lined cookie sheet, pressing the seams of the dough together to form one large layer of dough.

3. Mix cream cheese, 1/4 cup powdered sugar and and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and spread it along the center of your dough.

4. Cut a few slits in the sides of the dough to make flaps that can be folded over the filling.

5. Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans over the cream cheese.

6. Fold the flaps over the filling to make a “braid” and pinch together any holes along the bottom so the cream cheese doesn’t leak out while it’s baking.

7. Gently form the dough into a ring on the cookie sheet.

8. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

9. While cake is baking, mix together the frosting: 3 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup water with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. This mixture will be rather thick.

10. When your cake is out of the oven, spread it in a ribbon around the top of the cake, a section at a time. You have to work quick to add your sprinkles before the icing hardens after you put on the icing.

11. The finishing touch is the baby. Slip it under the cake and see who gets to hit the kitchen next to bake up another cake!

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, mardi gras, recipes, tutorials Tagged With: easy king cake recipe, king cake, king cake recipe, mardi gras, party, recipe

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Comments

  1. Geri says

    February 26, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    This is fantastic! I will make one for next week. How simple!

    Reply
  2. Christine says

    January 22, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    Wow! I had no idea king cake could be so easy to make! We buy ours at the store every year because it seems so complex.

    Thanks for the recipe!!!

    Reply
    • Paula says

      January 23, 2015 at 9:50 am

      Makes it easy to have any time of year. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Cydnee says

    January 28, 2015 at 3:42 am

    I am loving your Easy 30 Minute King Cake. I shared this on my blog and it was very popular. I am making one, just bought my babies yesterday! Thank you very much for joining in the celebration of #purebloglove, we enjoy having you each week. I hope to see you on Thursday at 8PM, EST through Sunday night. ~Cydnee

    Reply
  4. Morgan says

    February 6, 2017 at 8:16 pm

    Thank you for sharing this recipe! I never knew it could be so easy to make king cake!

    Reply
  5. Trudy says

    February 7, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    My family loves king cake and the bakeries here just don’t do it justice. I’m definitely trying your recipe this year.

    Reply
    • Paula Biggs says

      February 9, 2017 at 1:16 pm

      Nothing quite beats a king cake fresh from a NOLA bakery, but these are easy enough to do at home and pretend you’re there!

      Reply
  6. Amber says

    February 9, 2017 at 4:24 pm

    Awesome! Such a great idea! Going to try this with my boys!

    Reply
  7. Jhana Wallace says

    February 7, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    I am trying to make this and it tastes great but the dough seem undercooked. I left out the pecans. Any ideas?

    Reply
    • Paula Biggs says

      February 23, 2018 at 7:35 am

      Oven temps vary–would put it back in the oven for a bit longer!

      Reply
  8. Roksa says

    February 27, 2019 at 12:34 pm

    Awesome! My husband was proud of me:) Thx for recipe

    Reply
    • Paula Biggs says

      February 27, 2019 at 1:49 pm

      That is the best thing EVER! 🙂 So happy to help!

      Reply

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Meet Paula

My father came home from a trip for work when I was a little girl toting a huge (to me) book of fairy tales. I was instantly smitten with the beautiful illustrations and the stories that came alive from those worn pages. My favorite was always the frog prince…my mother read it to me over and over (and over.) Read More…

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