For the Love of Food

All About Mardi Gras King Cake : History and Tips

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Happy Fat Tuesday! 

We sure do miss Louisiana this time of year. During our 6 years stationed there we loved the Mardi Gras celebrations the best! The parades and the King Cakes, every flavor you can imagine, were our favorite things about Mardi Gras and every year my girls and I would set out to try a new flavor {or two or three}. One of my favorite local King Cake bakers is Chef Shauna from Dat Truck. I included her cakes in my post My Favorite King Cake Treats in Central Louisiana and we was lucky enough for her send a homemade Bavarian Cream Filled King Cake to us here in Missouri this year! Scroll down for a little history on Mardi Gras, King Cake decorating tips, and of course, to see this year’s cake!

Check out Dat Truck, located in Deridder, Louisiana,  here on Facebook.

The history of the King Cake

Tradition holds that the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany and the name is derived from the Three Wise Men in the Bible, who came bearing gifts for Baby Jesus on the Twelfth Night. 
In many Christian Churches The Epiphany, or The Twelfth Night, is observed on January 6th.
This day has come to be known as King’s Day and is the day King Cakes become available from your local baker.
The carnival celebration of Mardi Gras continues until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (Lent). 
The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power and most King Cakes are decorated in these colors. 
Traditionally, King Cakes are oval shaped and braided to show unity of all Christians. They are made of a ring of twisted cinnamon roll-style dough that is topped with icing and Mardi Gras colored sugar.
King cakes may also have additional fillings, the most common being cream cheese, praline, cinnamon, or strawberry. 
A plastic baby figurine is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the baby in his or her slice becomes king for the day and
will have to host the party next year and/or provide the next King Cake.

                                                                                                                                 

Now time to decorate!

Don’t worry they didn’t lick the spoons until after they frosted the cake!

Start with a cooled and filled King Cake.

Now add a powdered sugar glaze all over the top or spread on a flavored frosting. Traditionally it is white.

Most decorate your own King Cakes come with glaze and sprinkles.

But if not you need yellow, purple, and green sugar sprinkles.

You want to color the cake evenly in the three colors. First purple over 1/3 of the frosting.

Now green sprinkles over another 1/3 of the frosting.

And finally gold over the remaining frosting covered King Cake. 

You can decorate with colorful plastic beaded necklaces or fake gold coins. 

I love the look of the Brioche style braided dough and the cream filling makes it extra rich and delicious.

Lucky Ashton had the baby in his slice so he is the King next year and has to get the cake!

We sure do miss Mardi Gras festivities in the South but thank goodness we had a little slice of Mardi Gras at home this year with Dat Truck’s King Cake!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Lesli Schwartz

    Love learning about the history of this mardi gras cake! You make it look very easy, and fun to celebrate mardi gras style!

    Reply

  7. April

    This looks very good. Thanks for the little history lesson. I was hoping there would be a recipe. I would love to make a mardi gras king cake! I bet my kids would love decorating it!

    Reply

  8. Marta

    I love making my own King Cake for Mardi Gras. I can never remember to have one shipped in time and they’re not a big thing here.

    Reply

  10. Jacque Hastert

    Thanks for sharing this delicious king cake recipe and history with us. I had no idea where the idea came from, but I love it.

    Reply

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