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.
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
Tips/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
Calories: 239kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 129mgPotassium: 30mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 35gVitamin A: 87IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 0.05mg
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