Mardi Gras King Cakes

It all begins on January 6th (Twelfth Night, the Epiphany, or "little Christmas" as some call it). It begins with the Ball of the "The Twelfth Night Revellers", and with the Streetcar Ride (party) of the "Phunny Phorty Phellows" (Funny 40 Fellows). This is the official start of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

You know that Mardi Gras is at hand when you start to see those King cakes everywhere. A King Cake can be best described as a circular, braided cinnamon coffee roll, 12" to 24" in diameter, with lots of pretty purple, gold and green icing (and, there is a little plastic baby inside). Of course, many of the bakeries get a jump on the process, and many are selling them well before Christmas.

The King Cake custom began as a celebration of the three Magi, and the Twelfth Day of Christmas. Today, the King Cake is more associated with Mardi Gras. Almost daily, there is a King Cake at the office coffee pot, and the recipient of the baby is expected to provide the cake for the following day. Visit any friend at home, and you will almost certainly be offered a slice of King Cake.

How did this custom start? Well, most people are more interested in the cake than the history. NOLA Live traces the Mardi Gras King Cakes back to the Middle Ages, and Gambino's King Cake History emphasizes the custom of providing the next cake, if you find the baby.

So, what about this plastic baby inside? Yep. In every one! The general rule is that you try to get a piece of the cake without the baby, because if you get the baby, you buy the next King Cake! For newcomers, the baby is a nice keepsake. For veterans, the collection of babies translates into a lot of money invested in King Cakes.

Here's a tip if you want (or don't want) to get the baby: The plastic babies are not baked into the cake. They are added later. A little slice is made into the cake, the baby is inserted, and then the icing is added. The baby is usually found under one of the larger blobs of icing.

Well, the coffee roll is what the King Cake used to be. As more and more bakeries started to bake King Cakes, it was inevitable that each would try to best their competition with something really unique. To that end, the King Cakes started to arrive with chocolate filling, then cherry, lemon, apple, pineapple, blueberry, peach or whipped cream.

The cheesecake (and later the chocolate cheesecake) filling soon became the standard of King Cake decadence. For sure, some today have about 10,000 megacalories -- enough to maintain your metabolism well past Easter. Any wonder why people fast during Lent?

The little plastic babies were always about 3/4" long, and pink (some were deep pink, and others were pale, depending upon the supplier). Soon, as with everything else, pink babies were determined to be politically incorrect. Some bakeries began to experiment with different colors, and one even had one or two King Cakes each year, with a 24k gold baby inside. Gold colored plastic babies are not uncommon.

Several bakeries now sell the King Cakes online, and will ship them anywhere in the world, by UPS, FedEx, or by Snail Mail (they haven't figured out how to FAX them or attach them to email):

Haydel's Bakery
Gambino's Bakery
Victoria's Cafe & Bakery

For those who just can' keep those sticky fingers off of the King Cake, and who desperately want help, visit Sugar Busters