Fast, Easy New Orleans Mardi Gras King Cake Recipe

You don't have to live in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, and even mid-week, you can make a fast and easy King Cake with a little help from refrigerated canned crescent rolls like the ones made famous by Pillsbury.

Flickr/yayaempress
Gambino's "King of King Cakes" from New Orleans, LA

Instead of forming crescents, you'll form a ring -- coffee cake style -- which you will decorate with colored sugar crystals.  The regal purple means justice, green means faith, and gold or yellow stands for power.  Inside you'll tuck in a "pink baby," but if you don't have one, you can use a large fava bean or any small charm which won't melt in the oven or get swallowed by an absent-minded guest.  The tradition says that the person who gets the pink baby will bring or make next year's King Cake.

If you want to go all out, you can also fill your king cake with jam; cream cheese filling (recipe below); almond paste; or frangipane (click for recipe).

You can read more about the French origins of King Cake by clicking to my post with recipe about the Gallette des Rois.

To decorate for other holidays or seasons, use different colors.  You could even use this easy cake to celebrate a sport team victory or a school graduation -- just change the colors.


King Cake Recipe

Cake:

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (12 individual crescent rolls)

Cream Cheese Filling (optional):

4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins, (microwave in alcohol, orange juice or hot water for 1 minute to plump up)
1/2 cup pecan pieces

Icing:

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Purple, green, and gold or yellow sugar crystals



Preheat oven to 350 F.  If using optional cream cheese filling, combine all ingredients well and set aside.  Or have ready another optional filling such as jam, almond paste, or frangipane (click for frangipane recipe).

Follow package directions for crescent rolls with the exception of forming a ring instead of individual crescents. Form a ring by overlapping the long sides of the triangles with the pointy ends toward the center.  Press the seams together, leaving the ends of the triangles unsealed so you can fold them up over the filling.

Spread the chosen filling on the crescent ring and tuck in the "pink baby" or fava (see text above recipe).

Fold over the ends of each triangle, enclosing the filling.

Bake according to package directions until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

Prepare icing.  Whisk milk, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Add more milk if necessary for icing consistency. Spoon the icing over the top of the cake and allow some to slowly drip down the sides.

To decorate for Mardi Gras, sprinkle purple, green, and gold or yellow sugar crystals in alternating sections.

To decorate for other holidays or seasons, use different colors.  You could even use this easy cake to celebrate a sport team victory or a school graduation -- just change the colors.