The King Cake

The King Cake.... It is one of my favorite things about Louisiana. You can't go wrong with cinnamon dough, cream cheese filling (or any filling for that matter), and icing with sprinkles. What a great combo right?! Last year I decided to make a king cake from scratch. I used yeast, let it rise, knead, let it rise, etc. It was dry and it was not what I was hoping given the amount of time I put into it. I decided never again. I found a recipe in my Mardi Gras to Mistletoe cookbook that called for cinnamon rolls and forming them into a circle. Well I wanted something a little more king cake looking than that so I googled easy king cakes. I found one on eHow.com that sounded so perfect and it was! It was very easy and it really taste like a king cake! I made it last weekend and I decided that it is important to let dough to get room temperature. I only used 2 rolls so if you want a bigger cake, use 3 containers of cinnamon rolls. This one will WOW people when you tell them you made it. And you don't have to tell them how easy it was! As I was making my cake, I thought about how this amazing cake came about??  Some of you may not know so thought I'd share....

Epiphany, celebrated in European countries, marks the coming of the wise men who brought gifts to the Christ Child. Epiphany is also called Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night, and is celebrated twelve nights after Christmas. People from all of the world celebrate Epiphany by exchanging gifts and feasting. A very popular custom that is still celebrated is the making of the "King's Cake" which represents the three kings who brought gifts. A plastic baby is baked inside the King Cake, and the tradition is whoever receives the baby in their piece of cake must buy the next King Cake or throw the next party. King Cakes are made of a cinnamon filled dough in the shape of a hollow circle. The cake is topped with a delicious glazed topping and then sprinkled with colored sugar. The three colors of the sugar are Purple (representing Justice), Green (representing Faith) and Gold (representing Power). Today the King Cakes are baked with a wide assortment of fillings inside the cake. King Cake is the preferred dessert and snack in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Hundreds of thousands of King Cakes are eaten in New Orleans during the Carnival season. Many are shipped throughout the U.S. for those displaced New Orleanians longing for a taste of Mardi Gras. In fact, a Mardi Gras party wouldn't be a Mardi Gras party without a King Cake. 


I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. I  had a piece this morning and it was GREAT the next day!!

Things You'll Need:

2 Rolls Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, room temperature

1 c. Powdered Sugar

8oz. pkg of Cream Cheese

2 tsp. flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. milk

Green, Yellow, and Purple food coloring

1 cup regular granulated sugar (I went to cake supply store and found purple, yellow and green)

One miniature baby doll (found in the craft section at Walmart) or coin (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Pull all the raw Pillsbury dough out and roll into one big ball. Knead. Roll out flat onto a large cookie sheet, so that you have one large rectangular sheet of pastry dough. I let dough get soft so I can push and mash it out to an even layer. It may take 10 minutes to do so.

Prepare the cake filling. In a separate bowl mix cream cheese, confectioners sugar, flour, vanilla, and milk on high speed until well blended. Spread filling on top of the pastry dough.

Add the plastic baby (or coin) anywhere on the pastry once the filling is completely spread.

Make the dough into a "snake" shape that is flat by folding it in half. Pinch edges, making sure to completely seal the filling. Twist the dough and form a ring. Set aside.

Place the ring on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake your King Cake 25-30 minutes or until done.

While baking, dye the icing that comes with the cinnamon rolls. For this, separate icing into 3 bowls, evenly distributed. Add a few drops of your choice of food coloring (green, yellow or purple) in each bowl, making three different colored icings. When cake comes out of the oven, use the icing to decorate in Mardi Gras traditional food colors: Yellow, Purple and Green. Sprikle sugar on top of icing while still warm.

ENJOY!!