King Cake Bites Made with Hawaiian Rolls

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King Cake Bites Made with Hawaiian Rolls

King Cake Bites made with Hawaiian Sweet Rolls are an easy, no-cook Mardi Gras dessert, filled on the side with a cream cheese filling and a cinnamon-sugar interior. They are topped with a hard-setting glaze and purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar for a festive Mardi Gras appearance.

Prep Time30

Cook Time0

Course: Dessert, Mardi Gras

Cuisine: Mardi Gras

Servings: King Cake Bites

Calories: 239kcal

Author: Chula King

Equipment

½ inch metal cannoli tube
Electric Mixer
Disposable pastry bat
#12 round tip

Ingredients

Rolls

12 King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Cinnamon-Sugar "Paint"

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Filling

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperture
¾ cup (3 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of fine sea salt or table salt

Hard-Setting Icing and Decorations

2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons (0.8 ounces) Karo Light Corn Syrup
2 ½ Tablespoons (1.25 ounces) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of fine sea salt or table salt
Purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar

Instructions

Rolls

Use a knife to cut the rolls into uniform sizes rather than pulling them apart. (See Tip 1)
Using a ½-inch cannoli tube, remove a small core from the side of each roll, making sure not to cut all the way through the rolls. (See Tip 2)

Cinnamon-Sugar "Paint"

Mix together the melted unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Using a popsicle stick or a small knife, “paint” the inside of the roll's cavity with about ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Cream Cheese Filing

Beat together the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Fill a pastry bag with a #12 round tip with the filling. Pipe between 1 and 1 ½ tablespoons of the filling into the hole of each roll, being careful not to overfill. (See Tip 3)

Hard-Set Icing and Decorations

In a medium bowl, beat together the confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth and creamy. If necessary, add more milk to achieve the perfect dipping consistency. (See Tips 4 and 5)
Dip the tops of each filled roll in the icing, allowing the excess to drip off. Decorate immediately with purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar. (See Tip 5)
Yield: 12 King Cake Bites.

Video

Notes

The size of individual King's Hawaiian rolls tends to vary slightly. To ensure uniform size, use a knife to cut the rolls apart.
I tried using a paring knife, my finger, an apple corer, and the cannoli tube. The cannoli tube was the clear winner in terms of cavity size and uniform appearance.
Can substitute a Ziploc bag with about a ¼ inch cut in the corner to fill the rolls.
I tried applying the icing with a small offset spatula, but the results were messy. Dipping the rolls straight down about ¼ inch into the icing, then allowing the excess to drip off, produced the best results.
When the ribbons of the icing disappear in several seconds, the icing is of the perfect consistency.
Because the filling contains cream cheese, the filled rolls should be refrigerated.

Nutrition