Do you want to make the easiest king’s cake in the world for Fat Tuesday this year? Well, I can tell you how to do that. You know, since I’m the queen of cutting corners in the kitchen. 😉 You can make this in less that 30 minutes total and be serving it to your kids! Go ahead and submit yourself for that mother of the year award now! So here’s my super cute and easy king cake recipe.
King cake is a traditional cake eaten any time from the Epiphany all the way through Mardi Gras. This is known as the season of “Carnival” and is celebrated all over the world! To read more about the origin on King Cake and other Mardi Gras traditions, see my post containing Catholic traditions and celebration ideas for Mardi Gras.
If you’re in an adventurous mood, I also have a traditional and super delicious king cake recipe here. It takes like 2 1/2 hours to make though- you’ve been warned haha. If you’re still feeling lazy, continue on with the canned cinnamon roll directions.
Ingredients Needed For World’s Easiest King Cake
- 1 Can of ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls (with 6 cinnamon rolls, which most cans will have)
- Green, yellow, and purple sugar (Find my easy directions for making your own colored sugar here)
- A plastic baby, a nut, bean, or some kind of trinket to hide in the cake AFTER you bake it (optional)
First, remove all the cinnamon rolls from the can. You want to straighten them all out because you’re not going to use them in the spiral shape.
You’re going to take 3 unwound cinnamon rolls and braid them together. Then take the other 3 cinnamon rolls and braid those 3 together as well. That will give you 2 cinnamon roll braids.
You will use one braid to form the left side of the cake, and the other braid to form the right side of the cake. Pinch the 2 braids together to form a circle for your king’s cake. This is the traditional shape of the king cake as it symbolizes the crown of the king. Bake this according to package directions. Do NOT put the plastic baby in before baking lol.
Allow the cake to cool. Then, drizzle the icing that comes with them back and forth around the cake.
While the icing is still wet, sprinkle on purple, green, and yellow sugar.
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Again, you can easily make your own with my directions here!
Sprinkling the sugar is the super fun part that really transforms the cake and makes it absolutely adorable!
You can shove one of those plastic babies inside your king cake, or you can just put them on the plate like we did. (Or you can totally forgo the plastic babies. Whatev.)
Slice, serve, and enjoy!!!
What Happens If You Get The Prize From The King’s Cake?
Traditionally, the person who receives the little baby from the King cake is “king for the day”! Also, they are responsible for bringing the King Cake to the party for next year. In Catholic circles, I have seen that the person that gets the prize from the cake leads the rosary that evening for the group.
Check out all of my reources for celebrating Mardi Gras with Catholic families here
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3 from 1 vote
Super Cute And Easy King Cake Recipe
Do you want to make the easiest king’s cake in the world for Fat Tuesday this year? Well, I can tell you how to do that.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bread
Author: Lacy
Ingredients
- 1 can of ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls with 6 cinnamon rolls, which most cans will have
- Green, yellow, and purple sugar
- A plastic baby, a nut, bean, or some kind of trinket to hide in the cake AFTER you bake it optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to temperature listed on your cinnamon rolls.
Remove all the cinnamon rolls from the can. Straighten them all out because you’re not going to use them in the spiral shape.
Take 3 unwound cinnamon rolls and braid them together. Then take the other 3 cinnamon rolls and braid those 3 together as well. That will give you 2 cinnamon roll braids.
You will use one braid to form the left side of the cake, and the other braid to form the right side of the cake. Pinch the 2 braids together to form a circle for your king’s cake.
Bake this according to package directions.
Allow the cake to cool after baking.
After the cake has cooled, drizzle the icing that comes with the cinnamon rolls back and forth around the cake.
While the icing is still wet, sprinkle on purple, green, and yellow sugar.
Add a plastic baby inside your king cake, or you can just put them on the plate, like we did. (Or you can totally forgo the plastic babies.)
