Easy Crescent King Cake Recipe (Under 1 Hour)

Name: Crescent Roll King Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 6 ounces cream cheese, softened, divided; 2 cups powdered sugar, divided; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon; 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; Pinch salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 (8-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough; 1 pecan half; 1 tablespoon milk, as needed; Food coloring, as needed; Colored sanding sugar for decorating

A few weeks ago, I tasted my first galette de rois. A friend in the office where I work brought it in to share. He’s a new dad and brimming with that crackling, sleep-deprived enthusiasm of a first-time parent, clearly glowing with ecstasy over his baby daughter. He’s channeling that energy to involved cooking projects, something I did when I was a new mom, and it’s fun to experience it again vicariously.

For his galette de rois—the original French version of king cake, served to mark the beginning of Epiphany—he made puff pastry from scratch, filled it with homemade frangipane, and carefully marked its surface with a herringbone pattern in the traditional manner. It was stunning.

There’s more than one way to bake a king cake. I crack open a few tubes of crescent roll dough and whip up a quick cream cheese filling to make my shortcut version for Mardi Gras. Is it déclassé? Maybe, but it’s indisputably delicious.

Besides, my kid is 13 now, and my bursts of new mom energy long ago settled into a humming, steady undercurrent. If we want home-baked treats, we have to cut some corners.

King cake (all decorated) on a cake stand at a table setting with utensils, a purple napkin, wine glasses, and a stack of plates — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

My Easy King Cake Versus the New Orleans Version

In New Orleans today, iterations of king cake appear in all sorts of innovative forms: cupcakes, macarons, and even ice cream. The standard version is a ring-shaped yeasted cake decked out in the festive trinity of Mardi Gras colors of yellow, green, and purple. Our longtime contributor Irvin Lin created the Simply Recipes house version, and he notes “gold represents power, green stands for faith, and purple is justice.”

I have never been to New Orleans (or Louisiana, for that matter). But I do appreciate how much folks get into the spirit of Mardi Gras all over America. It’s fun to have an excuse to throw a party…or bake a cake. A traditional king cake takes at least a few hours from start to finish, but the shortcut king cake I make is ready in just one hour, with a lot less prep time and measuring. A kid could make it. Heck, my kid should make it.

Instead of making yeasted dough from scratch, I use crescent roll dough, which you don’t even have to thaw. Then I jazz it up with a cream cheese filling subtly flavored with lemon zest and cinnamon.

It’s Not A King Cake Without Colorful Decorations

Every king cake needs over-the-top decoration. I make a quick cream cheese icing, divide it in thirds, and add enough yellow, green, or purple food coloring to each to make the color saturation outrageous. But you could leave the icing plain white and stick to sprinkling it with colored sugars instead.

It’s customary to insert a plastic baby in a king cake, but I use a pecan instead. It won’t crack anyone’s fillings. I plan to bring mine in to share with my officemates this year. Whoever gets the pecan is king or queen for the day, plus they’re responsible for bringing the king cake the following year. Luckily, even non-bakers can pull off this version.

Slice of king cake on a plate with a utensil, and in the background, more on a cake stand at a table setting with drinks and a napkin — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

A Taste of Louisiana

Crescent Roll King Cake

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Cool Time 30 mins

Total Time 80 mins

Servings 8 to 12 servings

Yield 1 king cake

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

6 ounces cream cheese, softened, divided
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (8-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 pecan half
1 tablespoon milk, as needed
Food coloring, as needed
Colored sanding sugar for decorating

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the filling:

In a medium bowl, combine 4 ounces of the cream cheese with 1 cup of powdered sugar, plus lemon zest, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer until creamy. Set aside.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Arrange the crescent roll dough:

Pop open the cans of crescent roll dough and separate it into triangles. Arrange them in a circle on the baking sheet, overlapping slightly. Spread the filling evenly in a ring, leaving a 3 1/2-inch circle in the center and 3-inch border at the edges.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Add the pecan and shape the dough:

Lay the pecan on the filling. Fold the inner points in like a pinwheel, then fold in the outer points so they overlap. You should wind up with a ring. (Don’t worry if it’s a little sloppy. The cake will look better once it’s baked.)

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Bake:

Bake until golden, about 30 minutes.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Make the icing:

In a medium bowl, beat the remaining 2 ounces of cream cheese together with the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar. Add the milk to make it thin enough to drizzle, but not so thin that it’s soupy. Divide between three bowls and tint one green, one purple, and one yellow.
Decorate and serve:

When the cake is completely cool, drizzle or spread it with icing and sprinkle with enough sugar to make it sparkly. The cake will keep, tightly covered, at room temperature for 3 days.

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Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
273	Calories
13g	Fat
35g	Carbs
4g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories	273
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g	17%
Saturated Fat 7g	35%
Cholesterol 36mg	12%
Sodium 216mg	9%
Total Carbohydrate 35g	13%
Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
Total Sugars 23g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 1mg	4%
Calcium 31mg	2%
Iron 1mg	4%
Potassium 75mg	2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.