My older girl has lamented all season that she’d never gotten a baby in her piece of King Cake. So, my youngest decided to make sure her sister got a baby before Mardi Gras. Saturday, the girls and I, short on time and supplies, made a total cheater, cop out King Cake – that actually turned out pretty well.

We beat a few containers of cinnamon rolls into submission, twisted them into a ring and turned them into a makeshift King Cake, while our gumbo was on the stove (how Louisiana of us). After the rain ended, we got a bag of babies from the party store and Anna shoved all eight of them into the cake. This year, Emily got the baby! Well, we all did.

While next year we plan to go all out with our own recipe, here’s the trick we used:

Knock-Off King Cake
3, 8-roll containers of cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing
1 1/2 tablespoon of milk
Green, gold and purple sugar crystal sprinkles

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Open each container of cinnamon rolls, knead one container of them at a time together gently and roll into as long a rope as you can. Do the same with each of the other containers. Braid or twist the three together and connect at the end to form a ring. Bake for 30-40 minutes until lightly brown. Stuff your baby-or babies-into the side of the cake. 

Mix all the icings together with the milk and pour over the cake once it has cooled. Sprinkle with the crystals and serve. Happy Mardi Gras!