The season for King Cakes is from the Twelfth Night or Epiphany, January 6th, through Mardi Gras. The Twelfth Night occurs 12 days after Christmas which commemorates the visit of the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. Mardi Gras, also referred to as "Fat Tuesday", ends on the day before Ash Wednesday. People who follow the King Cake tradition closely will never, ever prepare or eat a King Cake during any other time of the year. 

This New Orleans tradition began in the 1870s. It is based heavily on European customs. As part of the celebration of Mardi Gras, it is traditional to bake an oval cake in honor of the three kings - the King Cake. The oval shape of a King Cake symbolizes the unity of faiths.

During King Cake season, many cakes are brought into offices, schools and workplaces and there are also a large number of weekly King Cake parties hosted as well. King Cake parties in New Orleans are documented back to the 18th century.

Hundreds of thousands of King Cakes are eaten during the Mardi Gras Carnival season each year in New Orleans. Bakeries sell King Cakes ranging in price from two to three dollars for a small traditional cake to close to twenty for a large filled one. A standard slice of king cake is about three inches wide. Bakeries also ship out many King Cakes to people all over the country.

photo credit Back to the Cutting Board

Another tradition of the King Cake is the small unclad baby, symbolizing the baby Jesus, baked into each cake. Custom holds that the person who finds the baby in their slice of king is declared the king or queen of the party and in some cases is given a paper, plastic or costume jewelry crown. This person is also responsible for bringing the King Cake to the next party or gathering.

At some King Cake parties, there are two separate cakes to select the male and female royalty; the cake for the women is sometimes referred to as the queen cake.

Originally the King Cake babies were made of ceramic; however, today they have been mostly replaced with plastic babies. Many places now sell both pink and brown babies. A number of bakeries will honor requests for custom-made cakes that have more than one baby. For instance, a kindergarten teacher may request a cake with a baby for each slice so none of the kids are left out!

In some office work places, a King Cake is brought in every workday during the season; therefore, the person who gets the slice of cake with the baby will bring the cake in for the next work day.

When making a King Cake, unless a heat-proof baby is used, the baby is inserted into the cake after it is baked and before it is frosted. The best way to insert the baby into the cake is by making a slit in the bottom of the cake.

Be sure to inform guests about the baby inside the cake in case they are not familiar with the King Cake tradition. You certainly don't want anyone to chip a tooth or choke on the baby!

King Cakes come in many different styles. The traditional King Cake is an oval or ring of bread similar to that of brioche.

Brioche is a highly enriched French bread whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. The egg wash applied before and after proofing helps to give the bread a dark, golden and flaky crust. Proofing is the final dough-rise step before baking.

Traditional King Cakes are a lot like cinnamon rolls. They are made of a cinnamon-filled dough in the shape of a hollow circle. The dough is rolled out into a tubular shape and then shaped into an oval. Once the oval is formed, the ends are twisted to complete the cake.

Today, there are many more variations of King Cakes including a braided King Cake. Some varieties have filling inside as well. Some of the different kinds of King Cake fillings include cream cheese, marzipan, apple, cherry, strawberry, praline, bourbon and lemon. The cake can be filled prior to folding.

Since kneading the dough is labor intensive, some people choose to use a bread machine to make the process go more smoothly.

I have also come across King Cakes that were baked in a bundt pan. This is an easier method to create a King Cake and the results are delicious and colorful!

Each King Cake is decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: purple, green and gold. The purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power.

These colors first appeared on the King Cakes after 1872 when the Rex Krewe selected those colors for its opening Mardi Gras parade. Rex is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe (a krewe pronounced "crew" is an organization that puts on a parade) which stages the city's largest parade on Mardi Gras Day. These colors are now considered to be the traditional Carnival colors.

King Cakes are topped with icing or a glaze and then sprinkled with simple purple, green, and gold granulated sugar. You could also use white sugar dyed using colored paste.

Another option for decorating your King Cake would be to airbrush the colors onto the top.

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