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Fat Tuesday isn’t complete without a King Cake recipe. This homemade King Cake is like a supersized cinnamon roll, dressed up for Mardi Gras.
Now synonymous with Mardi Gras, the first King Cake recipes were baked in Europe to commemorate Three Kings Day on January 6 for the Catholic Epiphany. This day celebrates the three wise men who visited baby Jesus in his manger with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
French settlers brought King Cake with them to Louisiana in the late 1800s, and it’s now a seasonal staple from January through Fat Tuesday (until Lent begins) at bakeries and restaurants, especially in the French Quarter.
So what is a King Cake, exactly? Think of it like a supersized cinnamon roll that’s turned on its side and stretched into a circular, crown-shaped pastry. Some King Cakes are bread-like, as mine is, while others are cake-like; nearly all versions are decorated with frosting and purple, yellow, and green sprinkles. Those colors aren’t random: green represents faith, purple symbolizes power, and yellow is said to foster justice.
One other essential “ingredient” in every King Cake recipe? A plastic baby. Some say it’s there to represent Jesus, while others see it as a symbol of luck. Either way, the lucky diner who finds the baby inside their slice is deemed “royalty” for the day.
If you ask me, anyone who gets a slice of this delicious cake recipe is a lucky one!
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient and equipment notes
- Active dry yeast: Find this in little packets or jars at the store in the baking aisle. If you already have some, make sure it’s active and hasn’t expired. If you buy the jar, store it indefinitely in the freezer after opening.
- All purpose flour or bread flour: Bread flour has slightly more protein than all purpose flour. That means bread flour can absorb more water, resulting in a more elastic dough and a chewier, lighter, finished product. All purpose works just fine if that’s what you have handy, however.
- Almond extract: Or Vanilla Extract; either will do to scent the frosting.
- Colored sprinkles: Look for sanding sugars in yellow, purple, and green in the baking aisle or purchase a set online.
- Plastic baby: If you don’t have one in a play set from your kids available to borrow, you can also purchase these online.
Step-by-step instructions
- To make the dough, in a small saucepan, heat water to 110-115 degrees. Stir in sugar until dissolved and remove from heat. Transfer to a measuring cup, stir in yeast, and set aside to bloom until foamy and bubbling, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attached, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, milk, butter, eggs, and yeast mixture. Stir until the dough just comes together, pulling away from the sides of the bowl but clinging to the bottom. about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Coat a large bowl lightly with oil or nonstick spray. Transfer dough to the oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap coated with nonstick spray.
- Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- While the dough is rising, mix the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until combined.
- Coat a baking sheet pan with nonstick spray. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 9-inch by 30-inch rectangle.
- Sprinkle filling to within ½ inch of the edge of the dough and press into an even layer.
- Using a bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen the dough from the counter if necessary.
- Starting at a long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough to form a tight cylinder. Bring edges together, pinching the seams to make a ring.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let proof in a warm place (80 degrees to 85 degrees) until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- While the cake is proofing the second time, make the icing. In a medium bowl, combine, powdered sugar almond extract, milk, and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake cake until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Switch the positions and rotate the orientation of the sheet halfway through baking time.
- Make small slit on the bottom of the cake and push plastic baby in.
- Drizzle with icing.
- Sprinkle the colored sugar sprinkles over the icing alternating between green, purple, and yellow.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This King Cake recipe makes 12 generous slices. (Make sure yours is nice and large so you have a better chance of finding the baby hiding inside!)
- Storage: Wrap any leftover cake tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Make ahead: Do not make the filling or frosting in advance of baking the cake. If you make the cinnamon filling ahead of time it will get crusty, and the frosting will dry out.
- Freezer: The cooled cake can be wrapped tightly in a double layer of aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Label and date, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Blooming yeast: In this recipe, you add yeast to ¼ cup lukewarm water (110-115 degrees). At the end of 5-10 minutes, the yeast should look foamy. If it does not, the yeast isn’t alive and should be discarded. Yeast activates at 40 degrees and dies at 140 degrees.
- Proofing the dough: Turn your oven on to the lowest temperature it will go, usually 200 degrees. Once it reaches 110 degrees, turn the oven off. Place the dough in the oven and close the door. Opening the oven door will lower the heat a bit, and that’s okay (you’re aiming for 75 to 85 degrees).
Recipe FAQs
The tiny plastic baby placed inside King Cake symbolizes Jesus and commemorates the Christian holiday Epiphany. If you find the baby in your slice of cake, you are known as the king of the day and you are required to host the celebration of Epiphany the following year.
King cake tastes like a cinnamon roll or cinnamon-flavored sweet bread. King cakes may also be filled with other flavors such as sweetened cream cheese or pralines.
Beignets
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King Cake
Ingredients
For the dough:
For the cinnamon filling:
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (see note 3)
- 2 tablespoons milk
For decorating:
- 1 plastic baby
- colored sugar sprinkles green, purple, and yellow
Instructions
To make the dough:
- In a small saucepan, heat water to 110-115 degrees. Stir in sugar until dissolved and remove from heat. Stir in yeast and set aside to bloom until foamy and bubbling, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attached, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, milk, butter, eggs, and yeast mixture. Stir until the dough just comes together, pulling away from the sides of the bowl but clinging to the bottom. about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Coat a large bowl lightly with oil or nonstick spray. Transfer dough to the oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap coated with nonstick spray. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
To make the cinnamon filling:
- While the dough is rising, mix the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until combined.
To shape the dough:
- Coat a baking sheet pan with nonstick spray. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 9-inch by 30-inch rectangle.
- Sprinkle filling to within ½ inch of the edge of the dough and press into an even layer. Using a bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen the dough from the counter if necessary.
- Starting at a long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough to form a tight cylinder. Bring edges together, pinching the seams to make a ring.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let proof in a warm place (80 degrees to 85 degrees) until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
To make the frosting:
- While the cake is proofing the second time, make the icing. In a medium bowl, combine, powdered sugar almond extract, milk, and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake cake until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Switch the positions and rotate the orientation of the sheet halfway through baking time.
To decorate the cake:
- Make small slit on the bottom of the cake and push plastic baby in. Drizzle with icing, sprinkle the colored sugar sprinkles over the icing alternating between green, purple, and yellow.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Active dry yeast: Find this in little packets or jars at the store in the baking aisle. If you already have some, make sure it’s active and hasn’t expired. If you buy the jar, store it indefinitely in the freezer after opening.
- All purpose flour or bread flour: Bread flour has slightly more protein than all purpose flour. That means bread flour can absorb more water, resulting in a more elastic dough and a chewier, lighter, finished product. All purpose works just fine if that’s what you have handy, however.
- Almond extract: Or Vanilla Extract; either will do to scent the frosting.
- Yield: This King Cake recipe makes 12 generous slices. (Make sure yours is nice and large so you have a better chance of finding the baby hiding inside!)
- Storage: Wrap any leftover cake tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Make ahead: Do not make the filling or frosting in advance of baking the cake. If you make the cinnamon filling ahead of time it will get crusty, and the frosting will dry out.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
