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MARDI GRAS KING CAKE

Feb.posted by Paula 16 Comments

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My favorite Mardi Gras King Cake is flavored with sweetened a cream cheese and cinnamon sugar filling then drizzled with icing and topped with colored sugar.

Do you love how a Mardi Gras King Cake is the center of your party? When you think of Mardi Gras, do you think of fun, frivolity, and feasting? No Mardi Gras celebration would be complete without a colorful King Cake. This is one of those desserts you only have once a year. Of course, Mardi Gras only comes around once a year…that’s probably a good thing for more reasons than one!

My favorite Mardi Gras King Cake is flavored with sweetened a cream cheese and cinnamon sugar filling then drizzled with icing and topped with colored sugar.

My husband and I love to visit New Orleans. I actually have several recipes inspired by NOLA. I made Creamy BBQ Shrimp, a Muffuletta, Bread Pudding, and Woodland Punch. However, we’ve never been to NOLA during Mardi Gras season. I’ve heard from more than one friend that it’s the ‘bomb’!

So what is Mardi Gras exactly? Mardi Gras is the celebration beginning on epiphany and ending on Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating “rich” foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Basically, it’s a huge party with eating and drinking and eating and drinking…

New Orleans, Mardi Gras King Cake is one of the traditions of Mardi Gras.

Traditionally Mardi Gras King Cake is made of brioche or sweet roll dough. It’s then braided to form a circle and decorated with icing and purple, green and gold sugars. Purple denotes justice, green is for faith, and yellow stands for power. A small plastic baby inserted into the side of the cake will bring good luck in the coming year to whoever discovers it in their slice of cake. The person who gets the slice with the baby in it also has to host the next party. Of course, when it comes to Mardi Gras more is more so let your freak flag fly and decorate your King Cake with beads, multiple plastic babies, curly ribbon, and other festive trinkets.

I have eaten Mardi Gras King Cake before, but I’ve never made one. The one I had was from a very popular bakery with a great reputation for King Cake. I had high standards to meet when trying to make this cake. What I decided to do is basically make cinnamon rolls. Instead of cutting into rolls, I formed it into a circle and dressed it for the party in traditional colors. I also filled the roll with a cream cheese mixture. This added just the right amount of gooey-ness that I was looking for! 

Let’s get to the recipe!

Mardi Gras King Cake Recipe

First, a few tips. When baking with yeast, use a thermometer to test your water before you add in the yeast. Check package instructions for correct temperature usually it’s between 120 and 130 degrees. Correctly measure your flour, incorrectly measuring can result in up to 25% more flour. Test kitchens actually measure flour by weight when testing and developing recipes. This method is more accurate than using a cup measure but check my tips in this Twix Bars Sweet Rolls for more accurate measuring techniques.

Note: Be sure to tell everyone to inspect their piece of cake before they begin eating it. To be extra careful, use a plastic toy baby that is too large to swallow, or hide the baby in an orange wedge. You could also opt to use a pecan half inside the cake and then simply place the honorable toy baby outside on the top of the cake for all to see and adore!  Avoid any hard items that may hurt someone’s teeth.

My favorite Mardi Gras King Cake is flavored with sweetened a cream cheese and cinnamon sugar filling then drizzled with icing and topped with colored sugar.

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Mardi Gras King Cake

Serve King Cake immediately. Store in an air-tight container in refrigerator up to 4 days.
Prep Time3 hrs
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time3 hrs 30 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American/Southern
Keyword: cake, cinnamon, cinnamon roll, dessert
Servings: 14 servings
Calories: 361kcal
Author: Paula Jones

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1/4 ounce yeast 2 and 1/2 teaspoons
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup scalded milk scalded milk is milk that has been heated to 180 degrees.
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter melted
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 ½ to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

  • 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • pinch of salt

Glaze

  • 3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract regular extract will work, but may tint your glaze slightly
  • 3 to 4 Tablespoons whole milk half & half may be substituted for whole milk

Instructions

  • Dissolve yeast in warm water; set aside.
  • In a large bowl of an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment, mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt, and egg. Add 2 cups flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture alternating with remaining flour. Mix until smooth.
  • Pour dough onto a floured flat surface and knead 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size (about 2 - 2 1/2 hours).
  • When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll or press out dough with fingers until approximately 15 x 9-inch rectangle.
  • Spread room temperature butter all over the dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over butter.
  • Mix 3 oz cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt until smooth.
  • Pour cream cheese mixture down center of dough on 1/2 of the dough only. It'll spread as you're rolling.
  • **Add plasic baby if desired.
  • Beginning on long, 15-inch side roll up the dough. Pinch dough at the seam and ends to seal. Shape dough into an oval place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet to rise for 45 to 75 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, add cream cheese, powdered (confectioner) sugar, vanilla and milk to a bowl, cream with a mixer on low. Mix until smooth.
  • Preheat oven to 375°. Bake 27 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before frosting. Drizzle cream cheese glaze over king cake. Decorate with colored sugars.
Tried this recipe? Comment below orMention @Paula_callmepmc or tag #callmepmc!

Notes

©CallMePMc.com All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 361kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 319mg | Potassium: 87mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 564IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg

King Cake 550

One month ago: Sausage Jalapeno and Cheese Cornbread
One year ago: Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
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Comments

  1. Andrew Hopkins says

    01.12.16 at 3:04 am

    5 stars
    It looks so kuteeee.
    I can’t eat it!!!

    Reply
  2. Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction says

    02.18.15 at 8:35 pm

    Paula,
    I made KIng Cake once and it tasted great. I didn’t get the colors quite right. I made three large blocks of color instead of alternating smaller blocks of color.
    Annamaria

    Reply
    • Paula says

      02.19.15 at 4:02 pm

      I bet it was good though. That’s why I opted for colored sugar, I really don’t like coloring frosting, it’s why I don’t like decorating birthday cakes. If I do just white, I’m good otherwise inevitably I don’t have enough of the color and then you can never match it if you have to make more. 🙂

      Reply
  3. marcie says

    03.02.14 at 9:42 am

    This cake looks just incredible, Paula! I’ve never had a king cake before, but now I want one. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Laura Dembowski says

    02.22.14 at 11:23 am

    I have always wanted to make king cake. This looks amazing! I would love a piece right now.

    Reply
  5. Gloria // Simply Gloria says

    02.22.14 at 11:04 am

    I love how you made this and explained what it really is. A lot of peeps over in this region do not know what it even is… it’s more than just a pretty cake, for sure! I’ve been seeing it all over and finally was able to stop by and comment about it… you know how phones are when you try to type in certain content… doesn’t do exactly what you want to say…. 😉

    Reply
  6. Kelly says

    02.20.14 at 6:42 am

    Great post Paula, we have always wanted to visit New Orleans for their amazing history and food. Your King Cake looks incredible! Pinning 🙂

    Reply
    • Paula says

      02.20.14 at 6:56 am

      It is an awesome foodie town, I consider it the original foodie town in fact. So diverse and flavorful. I hope you get to visit.

      Reply
  7. shamene@sayitwithcake says

    02.19.14 at 8:23 pm

    I love how you shared all the history, and your cake is awesome!

    Reply
  8. Lisa@ Cooking with Curls says

    02.19.14 at 6:07 pm

    I didn’t know that you could bake the plastic baby in the cake, lol 🙂 Looks awesome Paula!!

    Reply
    • Paula says

      02.19.14 at 6:11 pm

      Yes, you can, not just any baby, but certain ones.

      Reply
  9. Cindy Eikenberg says

    02.19.14 at 7:51 am

    Hi Paula! I love this post and your King Cake looks fantastic! I have never made a King Cake either, though have always wanted to try one. (I even have a pack of little plastic babies!) Your cake turned out great! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us and all the information on the King Cake! Pinning and will be sharing – have a fantastic day!

    Reply
    • Paula says

      02.19.14 at 9:06 am

      Thanks so much, Cindy. You comments always brighten my day!! Thanks for sharing my post.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Mardi Gras Tips - What to Know BEFORE You Attend Mardi Gras says:
    05.04.20 at 10:31 pm

    […] If you know your way around the kitchen (and have better luck working with yeast than I do), this is one of the most authentic king cake recipes. […]

    Reply
  2. Twix Bars Sweet Rolls - Call Me PMc says:
    02.28.14 at 5:35 pm

    […] been baking Cinnamon Rolls and Sweet Rolls like mad recently. It must be the weather. It’s been crazy cold outside. I haven’t been […]

    Reply
  3. Margarita Bars says:
    02.19.14 at 8:25 am

    […] Mardi Gras King Cake […]

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Paula. I'm a blogger, a baker, a runner, a writer, a recipe developer, & a cookie dough eater. I love creating great recipes & sharing them with you! You'll find healthy recipes, comfort food and my favorite, indulgent desserts!
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