Mardi Gras celebrations are a gathering with loud music, and bright colors in food and attire, plus the festivities make this an exciting time of year, especially on Fat Tuesday.
While there are many traditions throughout this time, we wanted to tell you a little bit more about a popular tradition that we have enjoyed making for several years.
Today we have made an assortment of pastries starting with the easiest colorful treats to making this fabulous homemade cinnamon-filled yeast-risen King Cake.
King Cake is a soft delicious sweet bread that's between a brioche, coffee cake, and raised doughnut.
What is Mardi Gras you ask? Simple, it's a Roman Catholic tradition that represents the day that Jesus first made himself known to the three wise men.
This official holy day is observed on January 6th known as "Kings Day" and is celebrated until the day of Mardi Gras day which is always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
Scroll down to our recipe card for step-by-step photos and instructions to make this sweet colorful and traditional bread, plus read our easy ideas to make in minutes when you are in a hurry, and let's get this party started.
The Traditional Ring-Shaped King Cake
This ring-shaped confection is full of tradition and taste! In its original recipe, these rings were yeast bread frosted with powdered sugar.
We have made all shapes and sizes from cupcakes to truffles and so much more.
Our braided traditional pastry is filled with cinnamon but you will need to set some time aside to make this delicious coffee cake/bread.
It is believed that the king cake tradition originated in France and was brought to New Orleans in 1870. The French version of this local delicacy is made of an almond-filled puff pastry that gives off a flaky texture. It also features a decorative pattern and is sometimes topped with a paper crown.
King Cake Significance
The French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent in preparation for fasting and abstinence.
The tradition of the King Cake has been around for centuries and is believed to have made its first appearance in New Orleans in the 1870s with a French settler.
It is written that these cakes were made to honor those kings, hence the name “King Cake.”
Sometime later in 1872, three colors were chosen to decorate these cakes purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. These colors are still found today in many Mardi Gras decorations.
What makes these cakes even more unique? Each cake is stuffed with a tiny baby a small, plastic figure shaped like a child is hidden in each cake.
The significance of the baby is to represent the baby Jesus when he was first presented to the three kings.
The fortunate person who discovers the baby in their piece of cake is believed to be rewarded with good luck and must host the King Cake gathering for the next season.
King Cakes are very popular the entire Mardi Gras season and, much like any holiday, this is a time to bring friends and family together to celebrate.
Making your own at home is easier than you think!
Easy Mardi Gras King Cake Ideas
- Mardi Gras Frosted Cupcakes: Use your favorite cake mix or Homemade Scratch White Cake, canned frosting, and all three colored sugar or yellow, purple, and green
- Mini Mardi Gras Sour Cream Coffee Cake: you can use a store-bought cake and frost it or make our delicious Sour Cream Old Fashioned Coffee Cake recipe. Bake in mini bundt pans or a large bundt cake. Frost with white frosting and use all 3 colorful sugar to decorate the cake.
- Mini Cinnamon Refrigerator Rolls King Cake: To make a mini king cake, unroll 1 roll and mold the dough into a rope; fold the rope in half lengthwise. Twist the dough in a spiral, and shape it into a circle. Place on a cookie sheet. Repeat to use up rolls, placing 2 inches apart bake to package instructions. Cool, frost the tops with canned frosting, and sprinkle with the 3 colored sugars
- Mardi Gras Cake Pops: Make your favorite cake pop recipe or ours. Place one cake mix (white or yellow) in a bowl with 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 cup of water mixed together. Bake this cake in a 13 x9 pan to box instructions. Cool completely. Crumble in a large bowl, add 16 ounces of a can of white frosting ( mixture should be sticky but not smooth). Roll into balls. Add a lollipop stick to each one and refrigerate. Dip each cake pop in melted white chocolate and immediately sprinkle with colorful Mardi Gras sugars.
- Mardi Gras Truffles: We used our Oreo White Chocolate Truffle Balls cookie recipe using golden Oreo cookies instead of chocolate and dip them in melted white chocolate using the 3 colorful sprinkles on top
- Mardi Gras Cookies: Take any Homemade vanilla cookies or store-bought brand, or make our Homemade Snickerdoodles (or your favorite cookie recipe). Fill two cookies like a sandwich with vanilla frosting. Frost each top of the cookie then decorate the tops with all 3 colorful sugars
- Shown Below: Mardi Gras Themed Cupcake, Oreo Truffle, Cake Pop, Refrigerated Rolls Frosted Double Stacked Snickerdoodle Cookies and Sour Cream Frosted Coffee Cake
Tips
- you will need three pieces of dough rolled out, sprinkled with the cinnamon filling then rolled like a jelly roll. Fasten the 3 at the top by pinching together then make a braid
- the easiest way to make the ring is using a removeable insert from a springform pan or bundt pan however, make sure you oil spray both the insert and sides of the pan
- A greased bundt pan can be used to bake the ring or a round cake pan
- Make sure you spray whatever pan you're using to bake them in with cooking oil spray for easy removal
- This dough is sticky and you will need additional flour for rolling out and keeping it together for a braid
- Other fillings besides cinnamon can be used: try an almond solo filling in a can or a cream cheese filling is also popular
- We make our own colorful sand sugars using food coloring for all our baking needs, if you can't find purple just use red and blue food coloring with granulated sugar and shake it in a zip lock bag. Here is a link to follow for Make Your Own Sanding Sugar Recipes
Ingredients for Yeast Risen Mardi Gras King Cake
- yeast
- flour
- eggs
- butter
- milk
- salt
- Filling:
- cinnamon
- butter
- brown sugar
- Frosting:
- powder sugar
- vanilla
- water or milk
- purple, yellow, and green colorful sand sugar
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King Cake Festive Ideas
There are so many possibilities to celebrate Mardi Gras with fun foods just by using boxed or pre-packaged cookies, cakes.
Being creative is easy when all you have to do is decorate them with icing and colorful sugar to match the beautiful Mardi Gras theme.
Whether it's an office party, family and friends gathering or you just happen to host a dinner party, this is a show stopped party treat.
The tradition with delicious coffee cake is totally worth the effort and a fun way to partake at home when you can't partake in the festivities in New Orleans.
Again this can be done on a bundt cake, cookies, whether your bake it or buy it, just get some frosting and sugars to have a fun Mardi Gras event in your own home!
Yield: 12
Mardi Gras King Cake Recipe Ideas
Here is a one-stop King Cake Shop of recipes. We have anything from yeast-risen to store-bought festive pastry recipes to celebrate Mardi Gras.
Prep time: 45 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 15 M
Ingredients
- 3- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid-rise yeast
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, then sliced into small pieces
- King Cake Cinnamon Filling:
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 - 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon of water or milk ( or more to make a thin glaze)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla or another extract you prefer
- Garnish:
- green, purple, and yellow sand sugars or coarse colorful sugar
- Note: for the miniature plastic baby for presentation (I didn't do this with mine) the tradition is to hide a plastic one in the bread after it's cooked.
- How To Make Your Own Sanding Sugar Recipes
Instructions
- Mardi Gras King Cake From Scratch Instructions:
- Oil spray a bundt pan, cake pan, or springform pan with an insert and set that aside.
- The baking temperature for preheating will be at 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl using an industrial mixer, add the yeast and 2 1/2 cups of flour, mix this together.
- Heat the milk, sugar, and salt to a warm touch around 120 degrees(do not boil or make it hotter it will kill the yeast)
- Add the liquid to the flour mixture for around 4 minutes using the paddle attachment then add the eggs one at a time.
- Next, on low speed, add the butter and the last cup of flour until a soft dough forms and is evenly mixed for around 6 to 8 minutes.
- Knead the dough by hand on a floured board until smooth around 3 to 5 minutes.
- Place dough into a greased bowl. Turn once so the greased surface is on top.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Make the filling by combining all the ingredients listed while the dough is chilling then set aside.
- Cut the dough into 3 even pieces.
- On a floured board, (for making a braid) roll each piece into a long rectangular shape.
- Spread some filling on the dough, roll up like a jelly roll and do the same to the next two doughs.
- Place all three on the floured board side by side.
- Pinch together at the top and braid the three pieces.
- Then make a circle with them pinching the ends together.
- I place this in the prepared pan and cover it with plastic wrap for
- at least 1 - 1/2 hours.
- Note: if using the insert for the springform pan make sure you spray the sides of the springform pan.
- Bake the King Cake for around 25 to 30 minutes until lightly browned on top.
- Cool completely.
- Glaze and while it's wet sprinkle the colors alternating around the ring for a festive Mardi Gras colorful garnish.
- Fun Mardi Gras Semi-Homemade Ideas:
- Shown Below: Mardi Gras Themed Cupcake, Oreo Truffle, Cake Pop, Refrigerated Rolls Frosted Double Stacked Snickerdoodle Cookies and Sour Cream Frosted Coffee Cake
- Mardi Gras Frosted Cupcakes: Use your favorite cake mix or Homemade Scratch White Cake, canned frosting, and all three colored sugar or yellow, purple, and green
- Mini Mardi Gras Sour Cream Coffee Cake: you can use a store-bought cake and frost it or make our delicious Sour Cream Cake Mix Coffee Cake recipe. Bake in mini bundt pans or a large bundt cake. Frost with white frosting and use all 3 colorful sugar to decorate the cake.
- Mini Cinnamon Refrigerated Dough Rolls for Making an Easy King Cake: To make a mini king cake, unroll 1 refrigerated cinnamon roll and shape it into a rope; fold the rope in half lengthwise. Twist the dough in a spiral, and shape it into a circle. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat to use up rolls, placing 2 inches apart bake according to package instructions. Cool, frost the tops with canned frosting, and sprinkle with the 3 colored sugars
- Mardi Gras Cake Pops: Place one cake mix (white or yellow) in a bowl with 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 cup of water mixed together. Bake this cake in a 13 x9 pan to box instructions. Cool completely. Crumble in a large bowl, add 16 ounces of a can of white frosting ( mixture should be sticky but not smooth). Roll into balls. Add a lollipop stick to each one and refrigerate. Dip each cake pop in melted white chocolate and immediately sprinkle with colorful Mardi Gras sugars.
- Mardi Gras Truffles: We use our Oreo White Chocolate Truffle Balls cookie recipe using golden Oreo cookies instead of chocolate and dip them in melted white chocolate using the 3 colorful sprinkles on top
- Mardi Gras Cookies: Take any Homemade vanilla cookies or store-bought brand, or make our Homemade Snickerdoodles (or your favorite cookie recipe). Fill two cookies like a sandwich with vanilla frosting. Frost each top of the cookie then decorate the tops with all 3 colorful sugars
Notes
Tips
- you will need three pieces of dough rolled out, sprinkled with the cinnamon filling then rolled like a jelly roll. Fasten the 3 at the top by pinching together then make a braid
- I find the easiest way to make the ring is using the insert from a springform pan however you will make sure you oil spray both the insert and sides of the pan
- A bundt pan can be used to bake the ring or round cake pan
- Make sure you spray whatever pan you're using to bake them in with cooking oil spray for easy removal
- This dough is sticky and you will need additional flour for rolling out and keeping it together for a braid
- Other fillings besides cinnamon can be used: try an almond solo filling in a can or a cream cheese filling is also popular
- We make our colorful sand sugars using food coloring for all our baking needs, if you can't find purple just use red and blue food coloring with granulated sugar and shake it in a zip-lock bag. Here is a link to follow for Make Your Sanding Sugar Recipes
Nutrition Facts
Calories
257.67Fat (grams)
11.11 gSat. Fat (grams)
6.7 gCarbs (grams)
37.35 gFiber (grams)
0.57 gNet carbs
36.77 gSugar (grams)
27.73 gProtein (grams)
3.27 gSodium (milligrams)
228.49 mgCholesterol (grams)
54.8 mgThe default measuring system for this website is US Customary. Unit conversions are provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. While we strive to provide accurate unit conversions, please be aware that there may be some discrepancies.
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