We’re sharing our favorite traditional Mardi Gras King Cake to celebrate the season. If this is your first King Cake, you’ll love this festive and delicious tradition.
What is a King Cake?
King Cake is the classic dessert of Mardi Gras: a sweet, ring-shaped brioche roll typically filled with a cinnamon cream cheese filling, finished with a sweet glaze and sprinkled with colored sanding sugar.
Brioche is an enriched yeast dough made with eggs and plenty of butter, which gives the cake a tender, moist crumb. While the classic filling is cinnamon cream cheese, King Cake lends itself to many variations. Once you master the dough, you can experiment with chocolate, cherry, blueberry, apple, or even almond paste fillings for a different twist.
What is the symbolism behind a Traditional Mardi Gras King Cake?
The King Cake celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. The cake is traditionally decorated with sanding sugar in Mardi Gras colors — purple, green, and gold — which echo the jeweled crowns of the Three Kings. Each color has meaning: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.
Making the King Cake
Making a King Cake is similar to making cinnamon rolls. Prepare the enriched dough and let it rise, roll it out, spread the filling, and roll it up tightly. Shape the roll into a ring, allow a second rise, then bake. After cooling, top with glaze and the traditional purple, green, and gold sanding sugars.
Hide yo’ baby. What does it mean when you find a baby in your King Cake?
A small plastic baby (representing baby Jesus) is traditionally hidden in the cake. The person who finds the baby in their slice is “King” (or Queen) for the day and often takes responsibility for bringing the next King Cake or hosting the next Mardi Gras celebration. Some also see finding the baby as a sign of good luck and prosperity.
What can I substitute for the plastic baby?
If you prefer not to use a plastic or porcelain baby, alternatives include hiding a dry bean or a pecan. If you use a plastic or porcelain baby, insert it after the cake has baked and cooled a bit. Beans or pecans can be placed in the dough before baking.
We demonstrated how to make this King Cake on ABC4’s Good Things Utah—what fun to share the recipe on TV!
Enjoy!
Alyssa
You may also like these other Mardi Gras festive foods:
- READ: Cajun vs Creole Food–What’s the difference?
- Creole Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
- White Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding
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Traditional Mardi Gras King Cake
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Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 ¼ oz package active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm waterwater should be warm but not hot
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¾ cup flourmeasured correctly
- ½ cup buttersoftened
Filling:
- 12 oz cream cheese (or 1 ½ cups)
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugarpacked
Glaze and decoration:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk or buttermilkfor a little tang
- ¼ cup buttermelted
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- green, purple, and gold sanding sugar
- 1 plastic baby, dry bean, or pecan
Instructions
Dough:
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In a large stand mixer with a dough hook (or a large bowl), combine warm water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
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Add remaining granulated sugar, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat on low until combined.
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Add salt and some flour, mix, then add remaining flour and knead on medium until combined. Knead on high for 4 minutes.
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Add butter and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl, about 5–6 minutes.
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Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1–1½ hours.
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Punch dough down and turn onto a floured surface. Roll into a rectangle about ¼” thick, roughly 21″ by 9″.
Filling, assembly, & baking:
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Make the filling by combining cream cheese, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until smooth.
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Spread the filling over the rolled dough, leaving about ½” border around the edges.
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Roll the dough lengthwise into a tight log, pinch the seam to seal, then shape into a ring and pinch the ends together.
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Place on a baking sheet, cover, and let rise 1 hour.
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Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake uncovered 20–25 minutes, until golden brown.
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Make the glaze by mixing melted butter with ½ cup powdered sugar, then add buttermilk (or milk) and the remaining powdered sugar until smooth.
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When the cake is completely cool, insert the plastic baby or place a bean/pecan if using. Spoon glaze over the top and sprinkle sanding sugars in alternating purple, green, and gold stripes. Slice and enjoy. A quick 8–10 second warm in the microwave brightens the flavors.
Nutrition
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