A King Cake is a perfect treat for the Mardi Gras Season
This year the Mardi Gras Carnival season is going to be a long one since Easter Sunday is not until April 21st this year. The last day of the Carnival Season ends with the big Mardi Gras celebration and that is always the day before Ash Wednesday. So that means more opportunities to enjoy a delicious King Cake. This super yummy cake has the texture of a cinnamon roll and is best served with a delicious cup of coffee. My favorite coffee for the Mardi Gras season is Community King Cake Coffee. I just love how this sweet coffee has flavors of vanilla and cinnamon in to remind me of a slice of sweet King Cake.
The history of the King Cake
The Mardi Gras or Carnival season officially begins on January 6th to coincide with the Epiphany. The Epiphany is a day to celebrate the three Wise Men's visit to baby Jesus. The King Cake tradition is thought to have started in New Orleans in 1870. The colorful wreath-shaped cake is a cross between a coffee cake and a French pastry and is colored with the royal colors of purple, green, and gold. These colors have special meaning. The purple represents Justice, The green is for Faith and the gold is for Power. The colors represent the jeweled crown of the Wise Men that visited the Christ Child on Epiphany.
Why is a plastic baby in the King Cake?
The baby that is hidden inside the King Cake is a symbol of the Holy Day and the baby Jesus. In the past, such things as coins, beans, pecans, or peas were also hidden in each King Cake. The person who finds the baby in their cake is named "king" for the day and they have to host the next party and provide the King Cake. Some workplaces in New Orleans like to enjoy this delicious cake once a week from the beginning of the Mardi Gras Carnival, January 6th all the way to Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. This year Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras is March 5th so that is a whole lot of King Cake to be enjoyed.
> Why a big celebration before Ash Wednesday?
For most people, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and during this time people choose to give up things like alcohol, sweets, coffee, and many other things that they enjoy. So it makes perfect sense to have a big celebration and party before you have to give up things.
Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. Lent is a 40-day season (not counting Sundays) marked by repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately celebration. The 40-day period represents Christ’s time of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and where Satan tempted him. Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection.
Today, over half a million king cakes are sold from the beginning of the year until Fat Tuesday.
King Cake that my husband brought home from New Orleans
Last year my husband traveled to New Orleans during the Mardi Gras Carnival season and he bought a King Cake while he was there. While the cake was tasty, it was a bit on the crunchy side. I think that you will find my recipe for King Cake so much more tastier. My King Cake recipe results in a moist sweet cinnamon roll taste with a sweet icing on top. This cake was so much fun to decorate also. The colored sugars added even more sweetness to the cake. If you don't have purple, green, or gold sugars, just use any color sprinkles as it will still look and taste great.
Make sure to place a small round oven-safe dish in the middle of the dough while it is rising and baking. The round dish is needed to prevent the hole from closing.
Yield: 12
Dairy Free Mardi Gras King Cake In The Bread Machine
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter, softened, cut into 12 pieces
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, gently beaten
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Decoration
- Dark green, purple, and yellow or gold sugars, if desired
- Miniature plastic baby, if desired
instructions
- Oven 350F
- Place all the cake ingredients, except egg, in the bread machine in order and set the machine to the dough setting.
- When the dough is finished, take it out of the machine and knead it to form a soft ball, adding flour as needed.
- On a baking sheet that is lined with a silicone sheet or parchment paper, form the dough into a large donut shape.
- Place a small round oven safe dish in the middle of the dough and place the dough in a warm place to rise for an hour. The round dish is needed to prevent the hole from closing.
- Once the dough has risen, brush it with the egg.
- Bake 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool ten minutes before decorating.
- Icing Directions
- In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth (add additional milk if the mixture is too thick or powdered sugar if too thin).
- Spoon icing over top of the cake. Immediately sprinkle on colored sugar, alternating between the three colors.
- If a baby is desired, cut a slit in the side of the cake and push the plastic baby in the cake
Created using The Recipes Generator
34 comments:
My boy just saw this and said I want to make that tomorrow so I guess tomorrow's shopping will be much more. Looks really good though.
Love the use of color in this dessert and glad to also learn about the history of the King Cake. Not sure we have this in our local supermarket but so far I have not come across this.
Looks like a great cake!!! Love the little history and the hidden baby!!
These sure is a really fun cake. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I'll try to use the King Cake the next time I'm baking a cake.
I've never thought about making a cake in the bread machine before! What a great idea! Yummy too!
That cake looks yummy. I love the colors. Makes me want to have some cake.
I love that you use the bread machine. It will seriously reduce the labor! LOL. It truly looks yummy!
This is such a wonderful recipe to try. This cake is absolutely perfect. No wonder many people are into it.
I've never come across this kind of cake before! I will have to recreate a vegan version of this as I love trying new baking recipes.
I only had mardi gras cake once! At a job and I think I found the baby too!
Kids would love the cake even more because of how colorful it is; and because it's also king-sized. It must be sweet.
Looks like a blast to eat and make that! Thanks for putting this post together!
This cake is absolutely beautiful and the fact that it's dairy free is even better. I really want to start baking more after reading this.
I love king cake! We have friends from New Orleans and she cooks for Mardi Gras every year. So much fun and such yummy authentic food!
I LOVE THE COLORS ON THIS BREAD! IT MAKES THE CELEBRATION SO MUCH MORE FUN.
Love this. We've had a King Cake a time or two, which was fun and tasty. But that coffee has my eye, I need to look for it next time I am in the store, must try it!
oh myyyyyy This cake looks awesome! I looove the colors, i've never seen a cake that cool tbh. Will try to make it.
This looks so delicious! I haven't had a King Cake in a long time. I'm excited to try this!
What a fun looking cake! I have never heard of this tradition before. I love that it's safe for dairy free people.
OMG this looks SO GOOD. Would you believe I've never had King Cake before? Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
out of all the time i see this, why it needs to be minutes before lunch. im drooling right now
Cha at Little MisadvenCHA
Honestly, I almost forgot about Mardi Gras! My friend is traveling during this time and we will be getting together prior to, might be worth making this for her.
The classic sweet "ugly but good" is really tasty and I can't wait to prepare it!
This is the first time I've heard of this. It's a nice cake, I like the colors!
I think this would be a fun tradition to do with my family. I have a friend who makes a king cake every year.
I first saw Mari Gras King Cake in NOLA years ago. I have never made it, but it may be a fun recipe to try.
This cake looks delicious. I might try your recipe and enjoy a weekend cake.
I've had King Cake before but I never had the recipe. thank you for the history!
I grew up eating this. My mom's friend would bring it over every year. Would be nice to make one this season and share it with our family/friends.
It looks amazing! Love the colors, the way it looks! Can't wait to try your recipe!
I have never heard of King Cake but then again I have never really done Mardi Gras. This does look tasty though. I will have to give it a try.
This looks so interesting! I love the colours, as strange as it may be :)
I don't know where I've been but this is the first year I've ever heard of a King Cake and I've seen multiple people talking about them this week. This looks totally tasty!
We just tried this recipe, and it was really dry. What did we do wrong?
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