If you would like to subscribe by email & never miss a single recipe, please click here. Subscriptions are free and no one will ever have access to your email address but me. You can also join us on Facebook if you like – I love getting to visit with you!
Alright folks, it’s confession time here at Southern Plate. You see that King Cake up there? Well that was the first time in my entire life that I’ve ever made or eaten a King Cake. After tasting this recipe though, it will NOT be the last time! I’m already craving more and plan on making it for breakfast without all the rampant sprinkles when my in-laws come to visit this weekend.
Now for those of you who have never made a King Cake, let me tell you this was INCREDIBLY EASY to make! Taste wise it is kind of like a coffee cake or a cinnamon roll, only without the ohmygosh sweetness, which is why I liked it so much. If you like desserts (or coffee treats) with just a touch of sweetness that are a little filling, this one is perfect.
Some of you are probably surprised that I’ve never had a King Cake before. I’ve never in all my born days celebrated Mardis Gras, even though the original Mardi Gras celebration took place in my beloved Alabama. Mobile still has a Mardi Gras celebration each year and I’ve read that it is actually very family friendly. I will most likely go through the rest of my life having never been to Mardis Gras though, but as I speak there are two little people in front of me singing and dancing to Tao Cruz’s “Dynamite” as sung by KidzBop.
Honestly, who needs Mardi Gras when I have a party at my house every night?
P.S. Did I mention this is good? Don’t let all the sprinkles and such turn you off. Ignore the glitter and make it for breakfast. You’ll thrill your family and have a new favorite! Now purists (because I’m sure there are Mardi Gras purists out there in Southern Plate land) will notice that the colors on my King Cake are a little varied from the traditional. Each color on the cake symbolizes something and since I made the cake in my kitchen, I used different colors to symbolize different things. Hey, your kitchen, your rules!
Traditional King Cake colors are:
Purple – to symbolize Justice
Green – to symbolize Faith
Gold – to symbolize Power
Here is what the colors I chose stand for:
Green – to symbolize Faith
Gold – to symbolize Power
Pink – to symbolize that the grocery store didn’t have purple and I didn’t want to go all over tarnation looking for it.
~grins and nods~ Yeah, that works for me.
When I decided to do a King Cake for Southern Plate, I immediately got to thinking about our Rhode’s bread dough. I went to their site to see if they happened to have a King Cake recipe and theirs looked so good I decided I had found what I needed and stopped there!
To make our King Cake, go into your freezer and get that last roll of White bread dough. You know the kind we used on the Cinnamon Rolls and Stuffed Pizza Sticks? Well they come in three packs so ya got one left!
You’ll need: Frozen White Bread Dough, Cream Cheese, Confectioner’s Sugar, Lemon Extract*.
You’re also going to need an obscene amount of sprinkles if you want to make this into a King Cake but like I said, I’ll be making it again and again without the sprinkles so if you want to leave them off go for it. If you want to add festive sprinkles and have some on hand but they are the wrong color, just invent your own festival and say those are what your colors stand for. No sense in spending extra money here if we don’t have to.
*I really do recommend buying the lemon extract though because that little hint of lemon just makes this.
Let your bread dough thaw completely.
I seldom think to do this ahead of time so I set my loaf on a plate in the microwave and microwave it for thirty seconds, then flip it over and do another thirty seconds and then let it sit a bit to finish thawing. It thaws much faster this way but if your microwave cooks a little fast you will want to do less time.
Okay, now roll that out on a floured surface, using extra flour on your rolling pin to keep it from sticking.
Rhode’s says to roll it out to about 10×18 inches.
I say to roll it out about that or until you get close enough and are tired of fooling with it.
Let that sit and rest while you prepare the filling because you scared it a bit rolling it out like that.
Now, in a mixing bowl place your cream cheese and add your lemon extract.
Dump in your sugar.
Mix that up til it is all smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides.
(do as I say, not as I do ~winks~)
Spread that absolutely delicious and not overly sweet cream filling over your dough, leaving about an inch or so at each edge.
Now roll that up and take a brush to brush water along the final edge. Press that up against the rest to form a log.
After you’ve done that form it together into a ring shape and press the ends together,
brushing with water if you need to, to seal.
Now a lot of instructions will tell you to spray cling wrap with cooking spray to keep your dough from sticking as it rises but I’ve found its easier and less messy if I just give the dough itself a little spray where the plastic wrap is going to touch.
Spray cooking spray lightly over top of dough.
This is the point where Katy came into the kitchen and her eyes got big as dollars as she said “Whoa! That is one big doughnut!”
Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for 45-60 minutes.
Or, if you’re like me, until you get busy doing something else and then realize an hour and a half later, “Ack! I forgot my bread was rising!”
What I do is start my oven and let it preheat for just a minute or two, then I turn it off and open the door and make sure it is just warm, not hot, then put my dough in there.
Here is our risen dough.
Bake that at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Even with my pitiful photography, that is a beautiful loaf right there!
Lets make it into a King Cake now, alrighty?
Note: I didn’t put a little plastic baby or bean or coin or anything else inside because this was for our family and with two little kids the last thing I need is one of them taking a big old bite of a cake their Mama made and ending up choking, and goodness gracious you know that would sooooo happen – because my life is funny that way.
If you want to stick a little something in there, per tradition, this is the point where you would do it but do so at your own discretion.
You’ll need some confectioner’s sugar and something to flavor it with.
Confectioner’s sugar and milk are what makes our little simple icing but I find that this glaze really needs a bit of flavoring to it also. I like to add clear butter flavoring but you can also use vanilla flavoring or even a little more of that lemon extract if you like. I would add 1 teaspoon of whatever you use (1/2 for stronger flavors) and know that if you don’t use clear Vanilla your icing will have a little tint to it, which is perfectly fine.
Add in flavoring and milk.
Stir until smooth and creamy.
Using a spoon, drizzle it over your cake.
The thing I love most about King Cakes is that whenever you see them in bakeries or the grocery store, they always look like they were decorated by a two year old in the midst of a tantrum so just go crazy and have fun with it.
Now this is where I’d stop if I were making this for breakfast or as a coffee cake.
But since this is a King Cake post, lets add enough sprinkles to sink a ship 🙂
Since I don’t have help beyond my family to eat this yummy cake (and I didn’t want to be left alone with it!), here are the slices I sent to my hubster’s work.
I hope you make this soon. Make it to celebrate Mardi Gras or just make it to celebrate your colorful friends and family!
- 1 roll frozen bread dough, thawed
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk (more if needed but stir this amount first, you’ll be surprised how far this goes!)
- 1 tsp clear butter or vanilla flavoring
- On floured surface, roll out your dough to a rectangle of about 10 x 18 inches. It doesn’t have to be exact, close enough works!
- In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and extract and mix until creamy and well blended. Spread over dough to within an inch of each side. Roll up longways (to make a long log) and brush the final edge with water before pressing it into the log to seal.
- Take log and form into a circle, pressing the ends into each other and brushing with water if needed to seal together. Spray top lightly with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Set in warm place to rise for 45 minute to an hour.
- Remove plastic wrap and bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Mix confectioner’s glaze and drizzle over top of cake with a spoon. Immediately sprinkle colored sprinkles over glaze if desired. Allow to sit until glaze hardens.
This is a simplified version of a recipe from Rhode’s. The original one may be found by clicking here.
*Since I first made this King Cake last week, I’ve made three more to give people!
“I’d rather be positive and get 50% percent good results
than stay negative and get 100% bad results.”
~Joyce Meyer. Submit your quote by clicking here.
I’m so glad to have you as part of my Southern Plate Family and appreciate all of your kindness and support!
Gratefully,
Christy
Yum 
This looks wonderful. I will try it very soon. Thanks for the great color ideas also.
I HOWLED at what your sprinkles stand for. You’re a hoot, Christy! 🙂
Did you put the little plastic baby doll in there???
Thank you for reminding me to write about that!! I didn’t put anything in there and went back and noted that in the recipe. Sure am glad you read this before I sent the post out!
Gratefully,
Christy
Looks so good! I have never made a king cake, but being that I am from Mobile, and my birthday falls during mardi gras season almost every year, this has been my birthday cake quite a few times. Will have to try this out 🙂
You should make me one! I haven’t had king cake in several years. Or, I guess I could go make one myself, it looks easy enough. 🙂 Yum! Now I’m craving king cake!
I would love to be able to make you one Anna but you can totally make this yourself, it is really easy!
Haha! Well, I would really love one from you, Christy, but I meant to comment on Amy’s post – she’s my sister. 🙂 But I think I will definitely try this out if I can find the frozen bread dough in the store. Do you think this would work with your Jordan rolls dough?
The next time we are in the same city one of us can make one…I want one that is for sure 🙂
We will have to try this. Being in south Louisiana we are in the middle of Mardi Gras territory. King cakes take on a variety of forms, even here. Even though we don’t celebrate Mardi Gras in our house, every year we do have to pick up a king cake (or two or three) from a local grocery store that makes fabulous ones. Thanks for the recipe.
This looks wonderful, never heard of a king cake, must try this soon cream cheese is always a winner. Thanks Christy
They don’t sell bread dough here! 🙁 I used the proper yeast recipe you put up once as the alternative to using the bread dough and it didn’t work for me. I’m hopeless.
Not even over in the freezer section with the frozen rolls and dumplins’? That’s got to be a crime. I’d never bought (or looked for) any ’til Christy mentioned it, but it’s real handy to have around. I use it for her cinnamon roll recipe, yummm. Hope you find some, it came in a package of three loaves at our store. I sent my husband after it, with the promise of cinnamon rolls if he could find it. Incentive always helps :).
Hi Mel, no unfortunately not. I don’t live in the US and we don’t have a lot of the goodies you can buy over in your grocery stores.
I have weekend company coming this weekend and this is definately on my menu of “GOODIES” to have sittin in the kitchen to just sit and have a good ole kitchen chat!! THANK YOU
I guess it probably wouldn’t work to mix red and blue sprinkles together, huh? I am definitely going to try this. Up here in Michigan, not too many people know about King Cakes. They have something called a packzi (pronounced punchkey). They are giant filled doughnuts. They’re good, but I sure miss my southern foods and traditions.
Oh, Christy! “Desserts with just a touch of sweetness that are a little filling” sounds like my idea of perfect, also! Thanks for searching out this recipe and sharing it with us. We here in the Southern Plate family really appreciate all your efforts and hard work, and going the extra mile for us~~THANK YOU!! Hoping you and all the ‘family’ have a super marvelous day!! Mary
Suzanne where in south La. are you from? I live there too –
the king cake looks real good –
Christy I love your website and your recipes. I see you have a Joyce Meyers quote listed for today. I urge you to do some research on this ministry. She employs many of her own family members with lavish salaries. Has furnished her mansions with expensive art and marble statues from Italy. Lastly she had an employee who murdered his wife and two young boys. She had knowledge of his behavior and affairs before he murdered his entire family. She is not what she appears to be . The St Louis Post Dispatch has investigated her ministry many times. Just thought you would want to know some of this history.
Thank you for taking the time to comment Carol. I appreciate your concern and the thought behind giving it.
Having no desire to judge others, I put that quote up in hopes that it will inspire you as it has me 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy
Can’t wait to try this. Have been in S. La. for 8 yrs and can’t get over the excitement and lavishness of Mardi Gras. I’ve only bought a few King Cakes and am usually a little disappointed especially considering the prices! Guess cost is another of those Mardi Gras ‘fat’ ingredients.
I just hope I can find that bread dough.
I found a recipe a few years ago in a French cookbook and made for my daughter’s class. It was made with puff pastry (be still my beating heart) butter (no good La. recipe starts without a stick of) and filling was similar to yours. It was yummy.
I was in my fifties and living in FL before I even heard tell of a King Cake and was pretty stunned at the decorating of them. Once I tasted one I was a fan forever and your recipe sounds so simple that I am going to have to try it. When not wowing people with the sprinkles, I can see some chooped walnuts on the icing.
What a hoot! I just love your post on how you made this yummy King Cake – you’ve inspired me to give it a try!
I can’t wait to make this!!!! Thank you Christy!
Thank you! I just bought a King Cake at Kroger yesterday. We will be trying this recipe soon.
Thanks, Christy, I will definitely be trying this as I’ve bought many king cakes and they aren’t cheap to say the least! I usually buy them from a specialty bakery and they are very small for a whopping $13.00! Eek, I know! Anyway, there are several different varieties you can make with a king cake, my favorite is pralines and cream….just add a little pecan praline to this same recipe and you’ve got that one…..add your favorite fruit on top of the cream cheese and you have another popular variety…strawberry pie filling, blueberry, cherry…whatever melts your butter! Thanks again for this easy recipe….I’ll probably make it tonight. I am a “Louisiana Yankee” from Shreveport-Bossier area and all of our parades start up pretty soon…My family doesn’t attend them because of the lewdness & drinking that people feel the need to do; however, that sure won’t stop me from eating a king cake!! LOL Have a blessed day!
Thanks for sharing some of the different varieties! The Praline and Cream sounds WONDERFUL!!
This is for Su………..I use my regular white bread dough recipe that I make by hand or on the dough cycle in the bread machine…..it works well for us…..the first time I made a King cake though, I made the cream cheese mix way too runny….heehee….lets just say I had a MESS! It was good, just did not look pretty. I haven’t tried another since. Maybe this year.
WOW, Christy…that looks so delicious & I love it!! You know you are the one who got me hooked on store bought prepacked dough…had no idea they carried things like that, thank U!! It has allowed me to create so many different type of bread & it averages out to be less than $1 per loaf..can’t beat that!!! Today, I am making Onion Buns. Still trying to figure out if I can put the grated onions on before hand & how to keep them from burning…the one’s in the store are always burned…thoughts???
Where do you find the Rhodes Bread dough? I am originally from Mobile and relocated to Tuscaloosa and really missing Mardi Gras right now. This will make me feel much better this weekend.
Most large supermarkets carry frozen bread dough in the freezer section. It may be a different brand than Rhodes , but I have always had success with any of them. Quite an effort saver-just allow thawin gtime before you start your baking project.
I actually use Kroger’s brand, there are 5 in the package…you just keep them frozen until you are ready to use one & pull it out the night before to allow it to thaw.
How fun! Can’t wait to make this 🙂
This looks great! I am room mom for my son’s class and we always have King cake on Fat Tuesday. I think I will make this instead of buying them this year. Thanks!
The cake looks yummy! I noticed in the icing recipe it says to add 1 tsp. flavoring but under the picture it says to add 1/2 tsp. Which is correct? I have never made a King Cake and don’t want to mess up.
Yum! My husband (then boyfriend, hehe) was stationed in New Orleans for a few years and I remember seeing these. We never bought one because they just looked very unhealthy and pretty expensive. Maybe I’ll bake one of these beauties up for him to take him back lol.
Thanks for the recipes!!!!
There it is again – I saw the flat tummy tip add on your site and it lead me to a commercial/editorial for diet pills and patches. Just wondering where the flat tummy tip is and have you tried the patches and diet pills?
Never, it’s that dern ad network. Im afraid it cost several hundred dollars a month to run SouthernPlate.com and I can’t pay for it out of our family budget and want to keep it free for you so ads are needed.
That one annoys me to no end. I’m sorry!
My dad taught me that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Diet pills definitely fall in that category 🙂
I haven’t had a King Cake in years, maybe we
Will do a little party around here to celebrate trash day or
Something lol
We just made this for my daughter to take to French class for extra credit. We don’t have that awesome looking Rhode’s dough, though and had to use crescent roll dough. We loved it as well and it looks so festive! 🙂
We LOVE King Cake, I’ve never tried to make one but you make this look so good and so easy that I am inspired!!! This looks as good (better) than the King Cake we had from New Orleans last year!!!
I’ve never heard of this type of cake. After seeing how easy It Is to make and how yummy It Is, I plan on making It soon. I’m not typically a sprinkles type of guy, but could see myself using a “rainbow” of sprinkles when serving this to friends. Of course, coffee! Nothing goes better with cake then a hot cup of java! =)
Thanks Christy for another great recipe! 🙂