Christmas cookies and Hanukkah doughnuts are no more. Your future involves a dense and flavorful cake filled with goodies like nuts, fruit and plastic babies…
Also known as the Twelfth Night Cake or Epiphany Cake, the King Cake is a January tradition that is today associated with the festival of Epiphany and offers eaters a glimpse of their fortune for the New Year. It traditionally makes its debut on January 6, (when the three wise men visited baby Jesus, 12 days after his birth) but can really be served anytime from January to March.
The King Cake can take many forms, from brioche twists and fluffy puff pastry to a more dense fruit cake, and is most popular in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyrus and Bulgaria. Here in the U.S., the King Cake is widely celebrated as part of Mardi gras traditions in New Orleans. Learn more about international variations here.
Colored sugar or frosting in purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power) sits atop the cake and a small plastic baby, who represents baby Jesus, is baked inside. The person who receives the lucky piece of cake with the baby is rumored to have the best fortune in the coming year, and is obligated to buy or make next year’s cake.
Below are a few great King Cake recipes and photos that I hope inspire you to try out this fun tradition. Happy New Year!
Traditional American King Cake
Lenten King Cake
King cupcakes
La Galette des Rois (French King Cake)
A few recipes worth trying…
Dorie Greenspan’s Galette des Rois
Mardi gras King Cake with cream cheese filling
These not only look delicious but FUN too….have tried the Traditional American King Cake before…..muct try another.