King Cake Recipe with Crescent Rolls

Two cans of crescent dough and 20 minutes later, you’ve got something that tastes like a cinnamon roll cake but looks like it took forever. King cake — or roscon de reyes if you’re going traditional — doesn’t need fancy skills. Just layers. Just butter. Just enough cinnamon sugar to make it worth eating.

Why You’ll Love This King Cake

It’s a bread but tastes like dessert. No yeast. No overnight proofing. Crescent rolls do the work.

Takes 48 minutes total — 20 prep, 28 in the oven. Works for holiday mornings or whenever you want something that feels special but isn’t actually hard.

Cream cheese icing with lemon zest cuts the sweet. Not sickly. Actually balanced. That matters.

The Mardi Gras colors look intentional. Takes you two minutes to sprinkle purple, green, gold across the top. Guests think you planned it for three days.

Leftovers are still good the next morning. Crispy edges. Flaky middle. Beats most cake recipes by hours.

What You Need for This Cinnamon Roll Cake

Two cans of crescent roll dough. That’s the whole thing. Don’t use the expired stuff in the back — it bakes stiff.

Cinnamon sugar mix. Three tablespoons. Could be store-bought. Could be three tablespoons cinnamon plus six tablespoons sugar stirred together. Works either way.

Softened cream cheese. Three ounces. Not block-cold. Room temperature or it won’t mix smooth.

One packet powdered sugar. Two cups roughly. Dump it all in unless you like thin icing.

Lemon zest. One tablespoon. This is the thing people skip and shouldn’t. Cuts the richness. Makes it taste less like pure sugar.

Colored sugar sprinkles — purple, green, gold. The Mardi Gras king cake recipe calls for it. You could use red, white, blue. Doesn’t matter. Just makes it pop.

Butter. A tablespoon or two for brushing. Melted. Brush each strip lightly or it gets soggy.

How to Make Cinnamon Roll King Cake

Heat the oven to 355°F. Spray a Bundt pan — not a loaf pan, not a cake pan. Bundt. Spray it heavy. Corners, crevices, the center tube especially. Stingy spray means the cake sticks like it was glued there.

Unroll both crescent dough sheets. Pinch the seams together where they separate, making one big rectangle. Not perfect. Just connected.

Cut it into strips about an inch wide. Don’t measure. Close to an inch. It doesn’t have to be exact.

Brush each strip with melted butter. Not drenched. Just covered. Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar over it evenly. Roll each strip loosely — you want it to look spiral-ish but still flaky, not tight like a cinnamon roll.

Line the Bundt pan with these rolled strips. Start at the bottom center, spiral them around the bottom, then up the walls. Squeeze them gently against the pan. Overlaps are fine. They help hold everything during rising and baking.

Slide it into the 355°F oven. It’ll take 28 minutes if your oven runs normal. Maybe 27. Maybe 30. Listen for soft crackles as the edges brown. The dough should puff and the edges should turn golden — not pale, not dark brown. Golden.

If it looks pale but the dough springs back when you touch it, give it another 3 to 5 minutes. Use a toothpick to peek into the thickest part. No raw dough should stick to it. A tiny crumb is fine. Gooey dough means keep going.

Pull it out. Let it sit in the pan for 15 minutes. It needs that time to set a little so it doesn’t fall apart when you flip it.

If it feels stuck, run a thin butter knife around the edges first. Gently. Not aggressive. Then flip it onto a plate. If it doesn’t come out, chill it another 10 minutes in the pan and try again.

How to Get This Mardi Gras King Cake Looking Perfect

While the cake cools, make the icing. Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar. Three ounces cream cheese. Two cups powdered sugar roughly. Beat it until it’s thick but you can still spread it. Not stiff. Not runny.

Add the lemon zest. This is what makes it taste good instead of taste like frosting. The zest cuts the richness. Balances it. Don’t skip it.

Spread it thickly over the cooled cake. Let some drip down the sides. It looks better that way.

Here’s the important part: sprinkle the colored sugars last. Purple, green, gold in lines or blotches or whatever. The sugars melt into heat. Sprinkle them right before serving or they get dull and sticky.

Let it set 10 minutes if you can wait. Or eat it now. The icing firms up but stays creamy.

King Cake Recipe Tips and Common Mistakes

Dough seams tear sometimes. Happens. Pinch them back together tight or fold extra dough over to patch. The dough expands during baking so small tears become weak spots. Big tears become holes.

Don’t overbake. The cinnamon sugar should caramelize lightly. Just light. Burnt cinnamon tastes bitter and ruins the whole thing.

Mascarpone works instead of cream cheese if you want tangier. Orange zest instead of lemon if that’s your thing. Both work. Same cake, different angle.

Sticks to the pan sometimes. If it does, chill it 10 minutes before flipping. The crumb gets firmer and releases easier.

Store leftovers wrapped tight. Best eaten day-of for crispness. Day two it’s still fine but gets softer. Not bad. Just softer.

The cake recipe itself is flexible but don’t mess with the Bundt pan. Loaf pan means it bakes unevenly. Cake pan means it spreads thin. Bundt pan means it stays tall and dense and looks like you meant to do it.

King Cake Recipe with Crescent Rolls

By Emma

Prep:

20 min

Cook:

28 min

Total:

48 min

Servings:

8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cans crescent roll dough
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar mix
• 3 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1 packet powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• Colored sugar sprinkles in purple green gold

Method

1. Dough prep and pan setup
2. 1 Preheat oven to 355°F. Spray a Bundt pan with non-stick spray generously. Don’t skimp here or the cake sticks like glue.
3. 2 Unroll crescent dough sheets and pinch seams together forming one big sheet. Cut into strips about 1 inch wide.
4. 3 Brush each strip lightly with melted butter, then sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly. Roll each strip loosely to preserve flaky layers.
5. 4 Line the Bundt pan bottom and walls by placing rolled dough strips, squeezing gently, filling all around to build a thick ring shape. Overlaps help it hold during rising and baking.
6. Baking phase
7. 5 Slide pan into oven; listen for soft crackles as edges brown. Around 27-30 minutes, the dough should puff up and edges darken to golden brown—not too dark.
8. 6 If dough looks pale but feels springy, bake 3-5 minutes more. Use a toothpick peek to check—no gooey dough should stick.
9. 7 Remove, let cool 15 minutes in pan. If sticking, gently run a thin butter knife around edges before inverting carefully onto platter.
10. Icing and finishing
11. 8 While cooling, mix cream cheese with powdered sugar and lemon zest until thick but spreadable. The lemon zest cuts richness, balancing the sugary glaze.
12. 9 Spread icing thickly over cooled cake surface, smoothing some drips down sides.
13. 10 Sprinkle purple, green, gold sugars in neat alternating lines or blotches, depending on mood.
14. 11 Let set 10 minutes or serve immediately—icing is creamy but firm. Store leftovers wrapped tightly; best eaten day of for crispness.
15. Tips and fixes
16. 12 If dough seams tear, pinch tightly or fold extra dough to patch; dough expands during baking so leaks create tough spots.
17. 13 Replace cream cheese with mascarpone for tangier finish. Swap lemon zest for orange if preferred citrus.
18. 14 If pan sticks, chill cake 10 minutes before turning out to firm crumb and ease release.
19. 15 Sugars melt quickly; sprinkle last minute to avoid dull colors.
20. 16 Don’t overbake—the cinnamon sugar should caramelize lightly but not burn.
21. ===

Nutritional information

Calories

440

Protein

5g

Carbs

57g

Fat

20g

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Frequently Asked Questions About King Cake

Can I make this cinnamon roll cake recipe ahead of time? Make the dough up to the point where it’s in the pan. Cover it, stick it in the fridge. Bake it the next morning. Might add 5 minutes to cook time since it’s cold. The icing can be made hours ahead. Just cover it so it doesn’t dry out.

What if I don’t have a Bundt pan? Don’t try loaf or round. Bundt is the shape that works here. You could use a donut pan if you have one — bake it longer probably. Most people have access to a Bundt somewhere. Borrow one.

How do I know when it’s actually done baking? The edges should be golden. The center should spring back when you touch it. A toothpick poked into the thickest part shouldn’t have raw dough. Some crumb is fine. Wet dough means keep going.

Can I use something other than cream cheese for the icing? Mascarpone works. Whipped cream mixed with powdered sugar works. Butter and powdered sugar works. None of them taste the same but they’re all fine. Cream cheese with lemon zest is better though.

Does the lemon zest actually matter? Yes. It cuts the sweet. Without it, the whole thing tastes like frosting. With it, it tastes balanced. Don’t skip it.

What’s the actual difference between this and a cinnamon roll cake recipe? This one uses crescent dough instead of yeast dough. Bakes in a Bundt. Has cream cheese icing. A cinna bun cake usually means something different — more like a classic cake. This is a bread that tastes like dessert. Different thing.

Can I make this for Mardi Gras if I don’t care about the colors? Use whatever colors you want. Skip the sugars entirely if you hate them. The cake doesn’t care. The colors just make it look like a king cake. Without them, it just looks like a cinnamon-flavored ring cake, which it basically is.