King Cake: An Easy Mardi Gras Recipe

Growing up, I loved going To New Orleans over Mardi Gras weekend and experiencing all the floats and parades with my extended family. I also loved all the food, especially King Cake!

While I haven’t been in town for Mardi Gras in a while, one thing that has kept me connected to the holiday is King Cake. The traditional French dish local to New Orleans is a fluffy cinnamon sweet bread with icing and sprinkles on top.

The history of King Cake and Mardi Gras is actually quite fascinating. The phrase Mardi Gras (pronounced "mah-dee grah") can be translated to “Fat Tuesday” in French. It’s the day before the season of Lent begins, a time in the Christian church of fasting and giving a temptation up, whether that is eating sweets, drinking coffee, or social media. King Cake was invented to be the last indulgence before the 40 days of Lent begins. In 7 easy steps, this recipe will teach you how to make King Cake to celebrate the holiday, no matter how far you are from New Orleans.

Ingredients Needed

• Pillsbury Flakey Cinnamon Rolls with Icing*

• Green, Yellow, and Purple Sprinkles

• (optional) A small plastic “king cake baby”

* It’s really important that the cinnamon rolls come pre-separated in the can and with icing, or you will need to buy a separate can of icing.

Kitchen Utensils Needed

• A sheet pan: either a 14x14 circle or a 10x15 rectangle

• Parchment paper

Step 1: Line the sheet pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Step 2: Pop open the cinnamon roll cans and line the rolls up in a circle, placing them on their sides. Make sure you leave a little space in between (no more than what is seen in the picture). As you line them in a circle, squish the cinnamon rolls as seen in the photo. (This helps the cinnamon rolls from rolling in the oven as they bake.)

Step 3: After the oven is ready at 375 degrees, place the cinnamon rolls into the oven and let it bake for 10-12 minutes. I recommend checking the cinnamon rolls as the time gets closer to the 10-minute mark, just to make sure the rolls don’t burn.

Step 4: Let the cinnamon rolls cool for 1-2 minutes before you start pouring the icing on top of the rolls. Pour the icing at a slightly hurried pace before it hardens (not too hurried that it turns into a mess).

Step 5: Before the icing hardens, pour the signature purple, yellow, and green sprinkle stripes on it. If the icing is too hardened, the sprinkles won’t stick.

Step 6 (optional): If you want to keep with the tradition of King Cakes, you can hide a plastic baby inside the homemade King Cake for an extra layer of fun.

Step 7: Enjoy! With the design of the King Cake, it’s easy to just pick the individual cinnamon rolls out of the ring (with a little help from a knife).

Hopefully you enjoy this recipe and the good times that come with it. Happy Mardi Gras!

Be Well, Auburn.