"Homemade" King Cake

So, as far as I'm concerned, Mardi Gras has but one positive attribute...the King Cake! A friend from the west coast recently contacted me for advice on where to buy the best King Cake to have shipped to her. We quickly realized that they were charging $40 or more JUST for shipping the thing. Really (no matter how good it is) there is no way they are worth paying that premium. So I began searching around to find alternatives. Much to our delight, I stumbled upon this recipe and we were certain we could pull this off.

I didn't actually go by the recipe but I am so thankful for the inspiration! :)

Here's what I used:

2 - 12.4 oz cans of cinnamon rolls

1/2 cup of frosting (homemade or store bought)

Yellow, green, and purple (or colors of your choosing) food/icing color

sprinkles (optional)

THAT'S IT! :)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (or whatever your package says) and grease/spray a baking sheet

2. Unroll the cinnamon rolls. Mine didn't seem to be actually rolled but they sort of had perforations. Just tear, stretch, make do...until they resemble this.

(Am I the only one who thinks these look like sea turtle legs? Didn't think so!)

3. Divide strips up evenly and pinch ends together

4. Braid each set of strips. Mine made 4 groups of 4. Eventually I figured out how to braid with 4. ;) You take the strip from one side, over the middle two, and lay it down before the last strip....and so on.

You should end up with this.

5. Twist/pinch the ends of the braids together to form an oval or shape of your choice. Next time I will do a better job of this step. My seams sort of separated when it baked...but we didn't care! ;)

My adorable helper

6. Bake until golden brown. Mine was only in for 12 minutes and I think I'll check it after 10 next time. I prefer it a little gooier.

Here are those separations I was telling you about.

7. While your King Cake is in the oven, you'll want to prepare your frosting. I scooped out the icing that came with the cinnamon rolls into a bowl and added some homemade buttercream I had on hand. You may get the urge to add more icing, but 1/2 cup is really more than enough. :) Mix well and then divide into 3 bowls. Add your colors and stir until completely distributed.

Jackson liked this part.

Katy woke up from her nap just in time for a taste too.

8. Spread or drizzle icing all over your King Cake any way you like. You may wish to add sprinkles too. It may not be the prettiest thing you've ever seen, but it sure is good!

Some of the reviews on the original recipe I saw claimed theirs tasted "just as good as the best King Cake I have ever had"...to me it tasted a whole lot like canned cinnamon rolls. ;) Still it's yummy, easy, inexpensive, and fun so it gets an "A" from us.

I hope you can make one for yourself. Get your kids in the kitchen and have some fun! Tonight I plan on doing another one but heart shaped with red and pink icing for Valentine's day. Thanks for visiting my blog!

**UPDATE**

I actually did make the Valentine one already so I wanted to share! :)

Here's what it looked like before going in the oven.

After baking and a coat of icing. I obliged Jackson with a few sprinkles this time.

See...that 1/2 cup frosting really is more than enough! ;)

NOTE: This time it actually did taste like a real King Cake! I think the lesser baking time (I did 375 degrees for 10 minutes), the cream cheese (instead of regular vanilla) frosting, and a little bit of sugar sprinkles (I used Cake Mate Cupcake Gems) went a long way to making this more like the real deal.