By Holly Clegg
The tradition of king cakes, colorful beads and elaborate parades, although wildly popular in the South, the carnival season now stretches from New Orleans, Louisiana to all across the country. Whether you reside in a city that celebrates the festivities of Mardi Gras in full swing or not, you can enjoy a traditional king cake, my personal favorite tradition of Mardi Gras, with my simple recipe for King Cake with Cream Cheese Filling from my Gulf Coast Favorites cookbook in the comfort of your own home. Get the kids involved as this mouth-watering fun favorite is made with crescent rolls, cream cheese and pantry-friendly ingredients. I get bombarded with recipe requests every time I make this delectable recipe and many people think this homemade ‘better-for-you’ version is tastier than what you can buy in the stores. The icing uses food coloring to represent the classic colors of the season – purple (justice), green (faith), and yellow (power). Remember the color chart as equal parts of red and blue food coloring make purple. Traditionally, inside each cake is a small plastic baby and whoever finds the baby hidden inside their slice is responsible for buying the next cake; but in this case you can make it!
King Cake with Cream Cheese Filling from Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Gulf Coast Favorites
You can  easily whip up one of my most popular and favorite recipes at any time.  During other holidays, just change the icing colors for a wonderful treat any time of year.
Makes 12-16 servings
2 (8-ounce) cans reduced-fat crescent rolls
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Mardi Gras Icing (recipe below)
1. Preheat oven 350ºF. Separate crescent rolls at perforations into 16 slices. On 10-inch round pizza pan coated with nonstick cooking spray, place slices around pan with points in center. About half way down from the points, press seams together.
2. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Spread cream cheese mixture on dough in center where seams of dough have been pressed together.
3. In another small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over cream cheese. Fold dough points over cream cheese area and then fold bottom of triangle over points forming a circular roll like a king cake.
4. Bake 20–25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly, drizzle with colored Mardi Gras Icing (see recipe).
- 2 (8-ounce) cans reduced-fat crescent rolls
- 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- Preheat oven 350ºF. Separate crescent rolls at perforations into 16 slices. On 10-inch round pizza pan coated with nonstick cooking spray, place slices around pan with points in center. About half way down from the points, press seams together.
- In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Spread cream cheese mixture on dough in center where seams of dough have been pressed together.
- In another small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over cream cheese. Fold dough points over cream cheese area and then fold bottom of triangle over points forming a circular roll like a king cake.
- Bake 20–25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly, drizzle with colored Mardi Gras Icing (see recipe).
Mardi Gras Icing
This is a simple icing to highlight the different colors.
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yellow, green, red, and blue food coloring
1. In small bowl, mix together confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Divide mixture into three bowls.
2. In first bowl, add few drops yellow food coloring. In second bowl, add few drops green food coloring. In third bowl, add equal amount of red and blue food coloring (will create purple color).
3. Drizzle each color over baked cake.
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons skim milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Yellow, green, red, and blue food coloring
- In small bowl, mix together confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Divide mixture into three bowls.
- In first bowl, add few drops yellow food coloring. In second bowl, add few drops green food coloring. In third bowl, add equal amount of red and blue food coloring (will create purple color).
- Drizzle each color over baked cake.
Terrific Tidbit: Hundreds of thousands of king cakes are consumed during Mardi Gras.
Nutritional information per serving: Calories 184, Calories from fat (%) 36, Fat (g) 7, Saturated Fat (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 9, Sodium (mg) 275, Carbohydrate (g) 26, Dietary Fiber (g) 0, Sugars (g) 16, Protein (g) 3, Diabetic Exchanges: 1 1/2 carbohydrate, 1 1/2 fat
Holly’s unique southern flare and delicious recipes have been featured on Fox & Friends, the NBC Weekend Today Show, The 700 Club, D-Life on CNBC, QVC as well as local affiliate shows throughout the U.S. Her trim&TERRIFIC® cookbook series has been covered in USA Today, WebMD, First for Women, the Huffington Post, and The Daily Meal, among others. Holly was recognized as one of the Top Louisiana Chefs of 2011 by The ACF of New Orleans.
Holly lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the heart of some of the best seasoning and local ingredients which has given rise to her career. For more information and easy healthy recipes, check out Holly’s website.
It’s funny, but this year is the first year I have heard of a king cake. Here in the northeast, people don’t really celebrate Mardi Gras, so I bet a King Cake would be hard to come by in these parts.
I see this running around every year, and always wish I could try it. It sounds delicious, and it looks so festive!!
I dont really do Mardi Gras, but I love the beads. I would love to try the King Cake!
This is a great Mardi Gras recipe. The colors make it even more vibrant and festive.
This is something I’ve always wanted to try but never really got around to it. I know it sounds a little strange but I’m determined I can only taste it if part of a Mardi Gras celebration and despite living in that region for 5 years I never managed to part of one! Clearly I’m missing out!
That looks and sounds so good. I love the different colored frosting. We do not celebrate anything with Mardi Gras in our home, honestly never thought much of it as I always thought it was just a New Orleans thing and what they did was never appealing. I need to learn more about it so I can get creative in the kitchen too.
Thats right, Mardi Gras will be coming up soon. I would love to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but this year is kind of out of the question.
I’ve always wanted to try a King Cake but never have. I live in New England, so Mardi Gras isn’t really a big deal, though the grocery stores still sell King Cakes anyways. They look delicious!
Sounds amazing. I also love the colors of Mardi Gras. They are so vibrant and cheerful.
I have never heard of that tradition with the Kings cake. I will have to try it, it sounds so good! Anything with cream cheese is delicious.
I have only had King cake of couple of times. Both times, I thought it was delicious. It’s not one of our traditions, but I like this recipe. Mmmmm, cream cheese filling. May have to whip it up someday soon.
I love how beautiful King cakes are! I’ve never tried making one before, maybe this will be my year!
In Germany Mardi Gras is called Fasching.We don’t do King Cakes but delicious Donuts with and without Fruit Filling.Wow I can taste one now.In Bavaria they make wonderful Krapfen,sooo good
By the way this King Cake Recipe looks so good I will make it.
Wow, that’s an easy way to make King Cake! Cool! Thank you for sharing!
Oh my goodness, I definitely want to try to make one. I love the way it looks and I know that king cake is delicious!
That is one colorful cake. Perfect for Mardi Gras
My brother loves King Cake and so do I. I might have to try making this recipe for the both of us.
There’s not a big Mardi Gras celebration around her, but there was in the city where my daughter went to college. I can surprise her with her a homemade king cake now!
I have always wanted to go to Mardi Gras. Now at least I can try a king cake!
I have never had any king cake but I am seeing it everywhere. I need to check it out and see what all the fuss is about! Thanks so much for the recipe!
I want to go to Mardi Gras so badly! This king cake looks so good and so festive!
I’ve never had King Cake… Very interesting! I love the colors and how it looks in the picture though!
I’ve only had king cake once but that looks easy enough that even I couldn’t mess it up too bad! I think my fam would enjoy it, Thanks!
This is quite the recipe for Mardi Gras… I love the colors and the wild effect it has on the eyes… Just like the event
That is such a colorful recipe! It looks delicious, perfect for Mardi Gras!
We like the plain king cake with just cinnamon. I wounder if I can follow the recipe and just skip the cream cheese. Anyone know?