Happy Mardi Gras! Today we’re celebrating with this delicious cinnamon king cake! This yeasted cake is filled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a sweet icing and colorful sugar.
Growing up, I took French classes in school and one of the parents would bring in a king cake every year on Mardi Gras. There are lot of different varieties of king cake, but my favorite kind is the Louisiana style. This style of cake is a yeasted, bread-like cake, filled with cinnamon sugar and topped with icing and colorful sugar.
Traditionally, king cake is shaped in a hollow circle, like a crown, and has a mini plastic baby or a bean hidden inside of it. Whoever finds the hidden baby or bean becomes king for the day!
Since this cake is basically a sweetened bread, it does take a bit more time to make and requires a couple hours of rest. It takes a little less time if you have stand mixer, but if you don’t, everything can still be done by hand.
To start, combine the flour and yeast in a large bowl. Set aside while you warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan on the stove. Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves and the milk reaches 120-130 F. Once the milk is warm, add the mixture into the flour and stir until incorporated. I did this using a spatula, but you can also use your hands or a stand mixer.
Add the eggs, one at time, mixing until the eggs are incorporated and a shaggy dough forms. Mix in the remaining flour. At this point, I found it easier to use my hands instead of a spatula. Once you have a soft dough, transfer to a well-floured flat surface as you’ll begin kneading the dough and incorporating the butter, one piece at a time.
Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. To see if the dough is ready, take a small piece and stretch it out using your pointer fingers and thumbs. If it stretches without tearing, it’s ready! Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. While the dough is chilling, make the cinnamon sugar mixture.
After the dough has chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Aim for a rectangle about 10×20 inches. Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture lengthwise onto on half of the dough. Fold the non-cinnamon half on top of the cinnamon half and press down firmly. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into three long strips.
Press the tops of the strips together and braid them together. When I got to this step, I completely forgot how to braid. I’ve done it tons of times, but it totally flew out of mind when I saw the dough. If this happens to you, don’t worry. Start with the right side piece of dough and cross it over the middle piece. Move the middle piece to the right so that it becomes the most right side piece. Take the left most strand of dough and place it over the new middle piece, moving the middle piece into the the left most position. Repeat until you have a long braid of dough.
Take the braided dough and curve it into a circle, tucking the ends of the dough into each other. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for another hour before baking. When there’s about 15 minutes left in the resting time, preheat the oven to 350 F so that it will be ready when the dough has finished resting. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
When the cake has cooled, whisk together the icing. To assemble the cake, first cut a small slit in part of the bottom of the cake. Tuck in the small baby, bean, or whatever small object you’d like to use. To add a bit of Mickey, I used a small Mickey icon.
Place a piece of wax paper onto a flat surface. Place a wire rack on top of the wax paper and place the cake onto the wire rack. Pour the icing over the cake and then sprinkle with the colored sugars, alternating the colors as you go. For my cake, I used dark green, purple, and gold sprinkles from Wilton.
Grab a slice and enjoy! Happy Mardi Gras!
Disclaimer: Links in this post are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mickey’s Mardi Gras King Cake
Ingredients
King Cake
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, separated into 2 ½ cups and 1 cup
- 1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) Rapid Rise yeast
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into 12 pieces
Cinnamon Filling
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Decoration
- green sanding sugar
- purple sanding sugar
- gold/yellow sanding sugar
- mini plastic baby/bean/other small object
Instructions
King Cake
-
Mix together 2 ½ cups flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
-
In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk, sugar, and salt. Stir until sugar is dissolved and milk is between 120-130 F.
-
Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and mix together with a spatula. Add eggs, one at time, and continue mixing until a shaggy dough forms.
-
Mix in the remaining 1 cup of flour, a little a time, continuing to mix until a soft dough forms.
-
Transfer dough to a well-floured, flat surface. Add the butter, one piece at a time, kneading with your hands to fully incorporate it into the dough.
-
Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic. To see if the dough is ready, take a small piece and gently stretch it using your pointer fingers and thumbs. If the dough stretches without tearing, it’s ready.
-
Form the dough into a ball and place it into a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil. Rotate the ball so that the greased side is on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
-
Make the cinnamon filling while the dough rests. Combine the cinnamon and brown sugar. Add the butter and mix until well combined.
-
After the dough has chilled, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a 10×20 inch rectangle.
-
Spread the filling on half of the long side of the dough. Fold the dough in half and press down firmly so that the dough will stick together.
-
Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into three long strips. Press the tops of the strands together and braid the dough.
-
Shape the braid into a circle, pressing the edges and ends together.
-
Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour.
-
When there’s about 15 minutes left, preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake until the cake is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Icing
-
In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Assembly
-
If desired, cut a small slit in a piece of the bottom of the cake and place the mini plastic baby, bean, or other small object.
-
Place a piece of wax paper under the cooling rack that the cake is resting on.
-
Pour the icing over the cake and quickly sprinkle the sanding sugar in large blocks, alternating colors.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Barbara Bakes