King Cake The Perfect Mardi Gras Dessert

With Mardi Gras just around the corner, here are a few more must-try recipes inspired by New Orleans cuisine: homemade beignets, gumbo, and jambalaya! You’ve got to try them all!

What is King Cake?

If you’ve never heard of it before, King Cake has a rich history dating back to the ancient celebrations of the Epiphany in Europe. Originating in France, it’s now a staple dessert for Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans! Although it’s called cake, this dessert is more similar to a braided sweet bread like babka! King cake is soft, sweet, and sure to be your new favorite Mardi Gras recipe. The bread has a brown sugar cinnamon filling with added pecans. It’s absolutely to die for! Top it off with a simple glaze, colored sugar, and you have a dessert that’s both festive and delicious on your hands!

Everything You’ll Need

The great thing about this king cake recipe is that it uses super simple ingredients. In fact, as long as you have some sanding sugar on hand, you likely have everything else to whip up this festive dessert! Looking for measurements? They can all be found in the recipe card below.

Dough

Warm Milk: Warm milk helps activate the yeast, allowing the king cake dough to rise and become fluffy!Instant Dry Yeast: This ingredient is essential for making the dough rise.Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness to the dough and also helps feed the yeast.Unsalted Butter: You can’t go wrong with butter! It adds rich flavor and moisture to the bread.Eggs: Bind everything together.Salt: Acts as a flavor enhancer!Flour: Make sure you use flour with a low protein content. This will make sure your bread turns out nice and soft! I used all-purpose flour and it turned out perfectly.

Filling

Brown Sugar: Adds a deeper sweetness.Ground Cinnamon: The perfect match for brown sugar! It adds the perfect warm spice.Melted Butter: Makes the king cake filling smooth and rich.Chopped Pecans: I love adding chopped pecans because of their tasty flavor and texture! Chopped walnuts or sliced almonds will also work.

Glaze

Powdered Sugar: Adds sweetness and gives the glaze a smooth texture.Water: For adjusting the consistency.Vanilla: Adds an extra pop of flavor. I recommend using pure vanilla extract here!Colored Sugar: For the green, purple, and yellow topping.

How to Make King Cake

Now, I know this is a pretty lengthy list of instructions, but king cake is a lot easier to make than you’d think! I’ve broken the steps up into 3 simple sections.

Making the Dough

Preparing the Filling, Baking

Adding the Glaze

Use Warm Milk: The warm milk helps activate the yeast, allowing the king cake dough to rise and become fluffy.Roll Out Dough Evenly: When rolling out the dough, try to make it as even as possible so that the cake bakes evenly.Add Filling Carefully: When adding the cinnamon sugar filling, try to spread it evenly without tearing the dough.Let the Cake Cool Before Icing: Allow your king cake to cool completely before putting the icing over the top, or the icing will melt and run off the cake.

At Room Temperature: Store your King Cake in a cool, dry place at room temperature in an airtight container. Avoid storing it in a hot, humid area as this can cause the cake to become dry and spoil quickly.In the Refrigerator: If you don’t plan to eat the cake within a few days, you can store it in the refrigerator. Just make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container.Reheating: For that freshly-baked effect, simply wrap your king cake in foil and place in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10-15 minutes, or until heated through.