Traditional King Cake from Scratch

If you’re looking for a traditional King Cake recipe to serve on Mardi Gras, Epiphany, or any other time of year, I’ve got a treat for you. This is a delicious and festive cake, sure to delight your guests. . .and not just on Fat Tuesday or carnival season!

What is Mardi Gras?

Mardi Gras is a lengthy carnival that kicks off on January 6th, also known as Epiphany (the date the Wise Men are said to have visited the baby Jesus). January 6th marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas.

It also happens to be my birthday.

Mardi Gras carries all the way through to Fat Tuesday, (the day before Ash Wednesday). Lent (a season of fasting) begins on Ash Wednesday, so Fat Tuesday gives party-goers one last opportunity to stuff their faces before they refrain.

For those who plan to fast it also gives them an opportunity to use use baked goods like flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and powdered sugar.

The Mardi Gras season is celebrated in New Orleans and multiple other cities. If you attend Mardi Gras you'll see parades, masked balls, and a ton of other fun events, many featuring today's cake--the traditional King Cake.

What is a King Cake? 

A King Cake is a festive multi-colored cake that is served during Mardi Gras. The name comes from the story in the Bible of the three kings who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. 

The cake is a combination of textures and flavors—part coffee cake and part cinnamon roll. Yum! The dough is often divided into strands and twisted or braided together. 

A tiny plastic baby is hidden in the cake to represent the Christ child. Tradition deems that the person who ends up with the baby has to host the next party. Fun, right?

Is King Cake a Cake or a Bread?

When I first saw the recipe for this cake I had to ask the obvious question: Is this a cake or a bread?

This is a yeasted recipe, which is more like the breads I’ve made, like my Tangzhong Milk Bread, my Cinnamon Rolls, or even my Homemade Cinnamon Bread. 

Most of my cakes (like my Southern Hummingbird Cake and my Classic Red Velvet Cake, for instance) call for baking powder or baking soda.

So, this is really more of a yeasted sweet bread than cake. It reminded of a cinnamon swirled coffee cake, to be honest.

What really sets this recipe apart from some of my breads, however, is the addition of eggs and evaporated milk to the recipe. These things add texture and depth of flavor. 

The other thing that makes this recipe cake-like is the sweet powdered sugar glaze and colored sanding sugars that you add at the end.

Why is a King Cake Yellow, Green, and Purple? 

I couldn’t help but wonder. I’ve a Texas girl and don’t know much about Mardi Gras, but a little investigation on my part turned up the following information from VisitJeffersonParish.com:

The Colors of Mardi Gras
The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. These are said to have been chosen in 1892 when the Rex Parade theme "Symbolism of Colors" gave the colors their meanings.

• Purple - Justice
• Green - Faith
• Gold - Power

So, there you have it! A festive party cake (or sweet bread) with religious overtones, all dolled up for a colorful celebration.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to taste this delicious cake! So, let’s take a look at what you’ll need to make it:

King Cake Ingredients

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here's a quick look at what you'll need. These are simple ingredients you probably have on hand in your fridge or pantry.

Dough Ingredients

• ½ cup salted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup warm evaporated milk
• ⅛ cup granulated sugar
• 1 packet fast rising yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups bread flour (or all purpose flour)

Brown Sugar Paste Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt

Additional Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Icing Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 - 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar, divided and colored (green, yellow, purple)
• Note: Can use ready-made sanding sugars in green, yellow, and purple

How to Make King Cake

Make Your Dough

Grease a glass bowl and set aside. 

Create a floured workspace. 

Place melted butter, warm milk, granulated sugar and packet of fast rising yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer (or large bowl). Whisk well and allow to bloom for 5 - 10 minutes. 

Bring to room temperature. 

Whisk two eggs into yeast mixture. 

Add cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. 

Add flour, one cup at a time, until fully incorporated. 

Knead (in stand mixer with dough hook attachment) or by hand until dough comes together. 

Shape dough into a ball and place in greased bowl. 

Set in a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes. 

Make Your Brown Sugar Paste

While dough is rising, make your brown sugar paste. 

Mix together sugar, salt, cinnamon, and softened butter and set aside. 

Bring it Together

When dough has risen, punch it down and place on floured surface. Using a large rolling pin, roll into a large rectangle (12 - 18”) 

Add brown sugar paste (cinnamon sugar filling) to the top of the dough. If you like, add pecans or other nuts (optional).

Roll into a log (as you would for cinnamon rolls). 

Twist your dough and form into a circle. Pinch ends together.

I went with a slightly different technique. I use a sharp knife to cut my dough in half lengthwise.

I left one end uncut, slightly connected by about an inch or so, then I twisted the sides over each other, back and forth.

Afterwards I stretched the dough and shaped it into a circle. I have to admit, the shaping and twisting process got really messy this way because the cinnamon filling spilled out! Next time I'll do it the easy way!

Form a circle, leaving an open space in the middle. (Make sure the space is adequate of the dough will swell and fill in the space while baking. I used a heat-proof bowl to hold my dough in place.) 

Cover and place king cake dough back in warm place for an additional half hour to rise. 

Whisk remaining egg and teaspoon of water to create an egg wash. Brush on inflated dough.

Note: I'm sure my cajun friends would gasp at the idea of the cinnamon sugar mixture ending up on the outside. This filling is supposed to be completely enclosed. But you know me. . .I can never leave a good recipe alone!

Remove bowl and place in preheated 350 degree oven. 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes, rotating halfway through. (I added a piece of foil on top of mine for the final fifteen minutes of the bake so that it wouldn't get too brown.)

Remove from oven when cake is golden brown and place on wire rack to cool.

Make the Frosting

While your cake is baking, mix your frosting. Combine powdered sugar and cream or milk. Stir well until all lumps have dissolved. 

Tint your Sugars

If you don’t have colored sanding sugar you can take white sugar, place about ⅓ cup in three separate small bowls, and add a drop or two of food coloring to color the sugars. The colors you’re looking for are green, yellow, and purple. 

It's Time to Decorate!

Remove cake from oven and place pan on wire rack to cool. 

Once cake is mostly cooled, move it to a serving plate. 

If you have a small plastic baby, place it into the cooled cake. 

Cover the top of the cake with icing (glaze). 

It’s okay to add the glaze while the cake is still slightly warm, but not hot. 

Now sprinkle on the sugars. I used each of the three colors twice, for a total of six sections. 

Your cake is ready to be served! Slice and serve to your party guests! Remember, whoever finds the slice of cake with the baby inside has to host the party next time!

Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container. Cake will stay fresh 3 - 4 days. 

You can freeze King Cake in an airtight container up to two months. Allow to thaw naturally. 

What to Expect from this Classic King Cake Recipe

Check out those traditional Mardi Gras colors, y'all!

Is it a cake or is it a bread? I’m still not fully convinced.

A couple of things that surprised me: First, the dough was a little sticker and heavier than I expected. 

That said, it had plenty of stretch. 

As I mentioned above, I had a bit of trouble twisting my ropes. My friend suggested I skip this stage and just make one log and twist it, (filling enclosed), then form the dough into a simple circle. Next time I might try that route. 

Such a Luscious Flavor!

This recipe reminded me so much of my Homemade Cinnamon Bread. It had that same sweet brown sugar and cinnamon flavor. 

It was also very much like my homemade cinnamon rolls, only much more dense. The addition of the icing gave it the additional sweetness you expect from a cinnamon roll. 

With the colored sugars on top, this sweet dessert had an extra layer or flavor and texture. I particularly enjoyed adding the color to this cake, though I felt my cake looked like a bit of a hot mess in the end.

(Hey, don't judge me! I'm on a learning curve. This is my first attempt at King Cake!)

No matter what you call it, it's perfect for Mardi Gras. Let the good times roll, y'all!

Variations on this Recipe

When I make this cake for the next Mardi Gras celebration, I might add: 

Cream cheese filling: Many recipe call for a cream cheese mixture. I might mix up softened (sweetened) cream cheese in place of the butter under the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. 

Pecans or Walnuts: I decided to add chopped pecans to my recipe (about a half a cup). You might opt for Walnuts or any other chopped nuts.

Coconut: I had a random idea that this recipe would take great with toasted coconut. I think the frosting would be great made with cream of coconut in place of milk or heavy cream. 

Tangzhong Dough: I think my Tangzhong Milk Bread dough is amazing and would likely make a delicious King Cake base. (You can use whole milk in place of evaporated if you go this route!)

Other Ways to Braid King Cake

There are so many ways to braid or twist your bread.

You can roll your dough into three long, skinny rectangular pieces and form each into a tube/roll.

From there, you can braid them together.

It's important to make sure the hole in the center of your dough is big enough of the rising dough will swell and fill the hole. (Ask me how I know.)

Other Cinnamon Favorites from Out of the Box Baking: 

I love cinnamon flavored desserts and have many of them on this site. Here are a few of my favorites: 

Easy Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread: If you’re looking for a quick breakfast treat or dessert and you love the taste of cinnamon, have I got an easy recipe for you! This Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread comes together in minutes and only requires a handful of simple ingredients!

Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake: Every now and again you stumble across a recipe that’s so simple, so luscious, so delectable, that you have no choice but to share it. This is that recipe.

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins: If you love the combination of cinnamon and brown sugar and you’re in a hurry, these muffins will be perfect for you. They come together (start to finish) in under 20 minutes. And best of all, they start with a simple white cake mix.

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That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe for King Cake, perfect for this Mardi Gras season! Enjoy a big piece of cake for me!

See this recipe at

Full Plate Thursday 

Weekend Potluck

Busy Monday

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.