Mardi Gras King Cake

One does not simply celebrate Mardi Gras sans King Cake. It’s a little bit of a time investment, but this delicious cinnamon-filled bread with sweet icing is totally worth your time. In fact, you should probably drop what you’re doing and make one right now.

We started by following Joy the Baker’s recipe, but it seems incomplete. For starters, the sugar amount in the icing is missing.

So instead, we found this tried & true Betty Crocker recipe! Spoiler: it works wonderfully. I’ve made King Cakes before, but I don’t have a recipe I like to follow – I usually just google it!

You start by mixing the dough for the King Cake, then you let it rise in a warm place. Next, you roll out the dough in a 10×20 large rectangle, smearing a cinnamon mixture along the long part of the rectangle, then folding it over.

I used a pizza slicer to divide the folded rectangle into three long parts. Then, I connected them at one end, and used my mad braiding skills to braid it, then shaped it into an oval. Once cooked, this is what the masterpiece might look like:

Before I go on about my masterful icing techniques, I really should point out that the credit to this beautiful cake goes to Johnny. He mixed and rolled out the dough, he made the cinnamon mixture, and he made the icing. I simply twirled around the kitchen until it was time to braid and decorate the cake.

Instead of the traditional white glaze, Johnny had the idea to make green, purple, and yellow icing instead! He doubled the icing recipe recommended by Betty Crocker, then split it into thirds:

Fun fact: yellow/gold = power, purple = justice, and green = faith.

What about the baby in the cake? I used an orange jelly bean in lieu of a plastic or porcelain baby, as is the tradition. I wanted to use a baby, but 1) we couldn’t find one (I’m sure I could’ve gotten one on amazon) and 2) I’m trying to convince Johnny’s family/my new family that I’m normal. And normal people don’t shove babies in cakes. Jelly beans are much more acceptable.

We brought this delicious cake to Johnny’s parents house, where a pancake party ensued. A king was not crowned on the night of Mardi Gras (no one found the jelly bean), but a very worthy King was crowned the next morning, when he had some cake for breakfast! Landon will have to learn how to make a cake next year, since it is now his duty! I’ll bet Johnny will help.

Even more fun fact: King Cake makes an excellent breakfast choice. The cinnamon and sprinkles pair well with medium roast coffee.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!