You don’t have to travel to New Orleans to enjoy a festive Mardi Gras king cake. If you’ve never heard of a king cake, it basically tastes like a giant cinnamon roll. Many families make a king cake every week of Mardi Gras, while others, like mine, just make one during the last week.

The icing-topped cake is decorated with beautiful colored sugar in traditional Mardi Gras colors: purple (representing justice), green (faith) and gold (power).

Growing up along the Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras was a big part of my life, even though I wasn’t actually in New Orleans. I have great memories of sharing king cake with family and friends. While I love making a big homemade king cake, this year I wanted to do something really simple. So I had the idea to use my favorite canned cinnamon rolls from Pillsbury® to create Mini King Cakes.

First, I took a package of Pillsbury® Grands!® Cinnamon Rolls.

Then I separated each roll, unrolled it and folded the strip in half.

Next I twisted the dough and formed a circle. Then I placed all the circles on a lightly greased baking sheet.

After 20 to 25 minutes in the oven, it was time to frost them with the canned icing from the package of Pillsbury® Grands!® Cinnamon Rolls. As the final touch, I sprinkled the little treats with purple, green and gold colored sugars.

In no time at all, I had beautiful Mini King Cakes. So super quick, easy and delicious!