Look no further because we’ve found 15 Mardi Gras King Cake recipes to help you celebrate Fat Tuesday in sweet (and easy) style! These King Cake recipes are yummy enough for kids and parents alike. King Cakes are the perfect Mardi Gras cake and kids love the sweet, colorful yumminess.
What Is A Mardi Gras King Cake?
Some of you may not be familiar with Mardi Gra or King cakes. So, what exactly is a King cake? A King cake is similar to a Danish, but it is wreath shaped and is made with brioche, cinnamon, and then frosted with a sweet glaze and covered with gold, purple, and green sugar sprinkles.
Find the King Cake Baby for Good Luck
Oftentimes you’ll find a plastic baby or a bean in them, and the one who finds it in their cake is to receive good luck!
The King cake actually originated in France and was brought over when French settlers settled into Louisiana. It was a part of their Carnival season.
Mardi Gras Cake Ideas
While you can easily buy a Mardi Gras King cake at the store, it is a lot more fun to make them with your family! Plus, we have chosen King Cake recipes that do represent the traditional Mardi Gras cake as well as a fun twist!
1. King Cake Bites Recipe
Try these delicious Plain Chicken‘s Mardi Gras bites your family will love! These cake bites are bite-sized, fluffy, and sweet, perfect to enjoy Fat Tuesday! Don’t worry these Mardi Gras cake bites are still glazed with the colorful sugar sprinkles. The glaze is easy to make in a large bowl.
2. Mardi Gras Cupcakes Recipe
These Mardi Gras King cupcakes from The Kennedy Adventures will be a fantastic hit in your home! The cake is a traditional vanilla cupcake, and may I say I love this recipe for using cake flour. Cake flour ensures you have that soft fluffy cake like the boxed mixes. The fun part is, you’ll be making your own purple, green, and gold sugar sprinkles for these Mardi Gras cupcakes.
3. King Cake Truffles Recipe
I love homemade Oreo truffles. They’re sweet, rich, and these Jam Hands‘ King Cake truffles are non-messy and delicious! And the cream cheese filling is to die for. The best part is these have all the traditional flavors like cinnamon. Once you dip the King Cake truffles then don’t forget to add the sprinkles on top! via
4. King Cake Cheese Ball Dip Recipe
Ever have a dessert cheeseball? This King Cake Cheese Ball from DIY Recipe Creations will knock your family’s socks off! It is a sweet cinnamon cheese Ball dip covered in green, gold, and purple sprinkles. Instead of crackers, use Vanilla wafers. You’ll wanna scrape the sides of the bowl to get all the cheesy sweet goodness.
5. Mardi Gras Bundt Cake Recipe
Here is a great Mardi Gras Bundt Cake from The Typical Mom Blog! It is a vanilla Bundt cake, with vanilla frosting, and purple, green, purple sprinkles. This one actually includes the plastic baby in it as well! Will you be the one getting good luck this year?
6. King Cake Ice Cream Recipe
Here is a King Cake Ice cream recipe from Cooking with Janica for the family! This is a sweet and rich cinnamon ice cream. I’m excited to try this, not only does it have the traditional Mardi Gras flavors, but it also includes cream cheese which tells me this is gonna be super rich and delicious!
7. Cinnamon Roll King Cake Recipe
This looks delicious! This fast and easy Cinnamon Roll King Cake from The Perfect Kind of Chaos is very close to being traditional and is absolutely delicious. Use cinnamon rolls, butter, sugar, cream cheese, and yes, Mardi Gras sprinkles. Those are some of the best baking ingredients I think. I’ve never had a dessert that involved all of those ingredients, that has ever been bad. Save some time and use a dough hook! Don’t forget to lightly oil the bowl of a stand mixture so it doesn’t stick.
More Mardi Gras Cake Ideas
8. King Cake Recipe
Here is another amazing King Cake Recipe from Fearless Fresh that you’ll love and this one is very traditional! This Mardi Gras King cake is flaky, sweet, and cinnamony with a delicious glaze! This one will take a hot minute to make, but oh so worth it! The glaze is easy to make if you already have the butter at room temperature and use a paddle attachment.
9. Easy King Cake Recipe
This easy King Cake from Tablespoon is perfect! This recipe is for personal pull-apart muffins and they look delicious. Each person can have their own cinnamon and nutmeg cake. The cool part is, this recipe uses Mardi Gras colored frosting and gold sprinkles. It is almost too cute to eat!
10. Mardi Gras Pancakes
Who says you can’t celebrate Fat Tuesday in the morning? Here is the perfect Mardi Gras breakfast treat: Pancakes from the Tablespoon. These Mardi Gras pancakes are purple, green, and gold with sweet icing drizzled over them. Yum!
11. King Cake Cheesecake
You and your family will love this family-friendly King Cake Cheesecake from Food Network. Believe it or not, this cheesecake doesn’t require any lemon juice or lemon zest. This King Cake Cheesecake is creamy, rich, and delicious! Plus, it is a lot of fun! It is a swirl of Mardi Gra colors that is also cinnamon flavor. This is great for those who are not huge fans of traditional cakes.
12. Mardi Gras King Cake
How delicious does this Taste of Home‘s Mardi Gras King Cake look? It is super flaky, full of almond filling, however, this cake is not in the shape of a wreath or Bundt cake. It is a solid cake that can easily decorate evenly with sprinkles which will also help you cut the perfect slice of cake!
13. Mardi Gras King Cake Bars
Love pecans? Then these Mardi Gras King Cake Bars from Purple Patch DIY are perfect then. The crust is a soft buttery cookie and it has brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecan filling topped with a delicious vanilla glaze.
14. Mardi Gras Cookies
Try out these fantastic Mardi Gras Cookies from Mom Loves Baking! These are super simple to make and a perfect Mardi Gras activity to do with your children. It just involves sugar cookies, frosting, and of course, sprinkles. You can let the cookies cool on a wire rack. Don’t want store-bought frosting? Make your own with powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla or you can use almond extract.
15. Traditional King Cake
This King Cake from Barbara Bakes is a traditional cake recipe. This King Cake is flaky and also made in the shape of a wreath. It also has a delicious, buttery, cinnamon, brown sugar filling, and vanilla glaze. This cake also includes the plastic baby, just remember not to bake the babies in the cake!
More Mardi Gras Tradition, Colors, and History
There is more to Mardi Gras than King’s cake. This is a huge celebration in New Orleans and even places like Galveston Texas. But what else is there to know?
If you haven’t figured out by now, the Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold.
Mardi Gras Colors Have a Meaning:
- Purple represents justice.
- Green represents faith.
- Gold represents power.
Small Plastic Baby In The King Cake
The small plastic baby in a King cake represents baby Jesus. It’s a way to celebrate the Christian faith and symbolizes luck and prosperity to whoever finds it.
Sometimes people use a dried bean or a pecan instead of a plastic baby in their cinnamon sugar King cake.
MORE MARDI GRAS FUN FROM KIDS ACTIVITIES BLOG
- Fun and simple Mardi Gras crafts to make with your kids.
- Here are tons of Mardi Gras mask ideas to make your own creative costume!
- This day is celebrated with Mardi Gras activities, such as wearing masks and costumes, a lot of dancing, sports competitions, beautiful parades, and delicious food.
- And make your own easy Mardi Gras king cake recipe.
- Learn about popular practices of Mardi Gras while you check out these Mardi Gras paper masks.
- Make a paper plate mask for Mardi Gras.
- Don’t miss this King Cake recipe for Mardi Gras!
What is your favorite Mardi Gras King cake recipe? Let us know in the comments!
Mmmm…so many yummy king cake ideas!