The Easiest King Cake Recipe Ever for Your Mardi Gras Celebration Cakes/Cupcakes Holidays

Intimidated at the thought of making a king cake? Well, I am. After reading Holly Budde's easy recipe for shortcut king cake (yum!), inspiration hit me on how to make a king cake for Mardi Gras. One that didn't take hours in the kitchen and too many (if any) baking skills.

Here's my easy (super easy!) idea for another Mardi Gras king cake for those of us who wait until the very last minute or just don't have the time. It starts with a box cake mix, which cuts down the ingredient list and the prep time. After baking a vanilla cake mix in a bundt pan, a simple three ingredient glaze is mixed up and spread over the cooled cake. Yellow, green and purple sprinkles decorate the cake and turn it into a Mardi Gras dessert for your Fat Tuesday celebrations.

Want an even easier cake? Check out my suggestion in Recipe Notes below. Let the kids decorate the cake the the sprinkles and other Mardi Gras decorations. Such a festive and fun dessert! 

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Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes (approximately) 
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

Cake 

• 1 box (16 ounces) vanilla cake mix, plus ingredients to make it

Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 tablespoons milk

Helpful Products

• Yellow Sprinkles
• Green Sprinkles
• Purple Sprinkles
• Mardi Gras Beads
• Electric Mixer
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Rubber Spatula
• Bundt Pan

Recipe Notes

• For an even easier cake – if that's even possible – use a can of vanilla frosting instead of making the glaze.

• If you want, add a plastic king cake baby. Remember it is a choking hazard!

• Store the cake in an airtight container on the counter. 

Here's how to make it:

1. Prepare and bake the cake mix using a bundt pan. Remove from pan and cool.
2. While cake is cooling, combine the glaze ingredients.
3. Spread the glaze on the cake. 
4. Alternate the sprinkle colors around the cake. 

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories: 309

Total Fat: 10.5g

Saturated Fat: 3g

Cholesterol: 39mg

Sodium: 245mg

Total Carbohydrate: 49.9g

Dietary Fiber: 0.5g

Total Sugars: 13.5g

Protein: 4.4g

Vitamin D: 0mcg

Calcium: 129mg

Iron: 1mg

Potassium: 78mg

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by VeryWellFit. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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