It’s the end of January, which means that we’ve all made it through the month that always seems like it will never end. It’s always feels like a slog after the holidays, doesn’t it? All the excitement of jumping from holiday to holiday is over, and the days just drag on and on. I really feel like we all deserve a reward for making it through (relatively) unscathed. Something sugary, comforting, and definitely not New Year’s resolution friendly. You heard it here folks, this treat is not for those of you hanging onto your diets by your fingernails. This is King Cake. And we’re making it happen today.

And yeah, there’s a baby in it. That’s the fun part! Traditionally, if you are the one to find the baby in your slice of king cake then you’re granted good luck for the next year. Oh, and you’re in charge of hosting the party next time around! If you’ve never baked a baby in a cake before, don’t worry- I’ll help you figure out the best way to go about it. King cakes are fun and relatively simple to make with common ingredients and easy techniques. The rolled layers are filled with cinnamon and sugar, and you can also add things like raisins or nuts if you chose. Our house prefers the simple cinnamon and sugar mixture because it’s amazing in the morning with coffee. Who doesn’t love cake in the morning?

Materials Needed for Mardi Gras King Cake

King cake recipe- find it at the bottom of this post, and some hints and tips directly below this list!
Large (commercial style) baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. If you don’t have a large sheet,you can find them on Amazon.
Sanding sugar in yellow, green, and purple.
Basting brush for simple syrup.
Plastic baby, available here on Amazon.

While a king cake is simple to put together, there are definitely some hints and tricks that make your life easier. Below, I’ll note some of my favorite tips and save you the time!

Use Good Yeast

This is important. While I am the queen of generic ingredients whenever possible, the yeast you use in this recipe is really important. A king cake is more bread-like than a typical cake batter, and the dough should be fluffy and light. That can only happen with happy, and alive, yeast. You want it to proof- which means that it will get really foamy. You can see my yeast proofing for this recipe in the photo above. I use Red Star platinum yeast in this recipe, which you should be able to find in most grocery stores. I’ve never had this yeast not activate like crazy. Whatever yeast you use, make sure it’s active by watching for it to foam up. If it doesn’t, use a fresher packet.

Scald Your Milk

Along with good yeast, you should scald your milk. Scalding milk when you’re baking makes doughy breads and cakes even lighter because it breaks down the proteins in the milk that can prevent dough from rising properly. It’s really easy to scald milk- just heat it on the stovetop under medium-high heat until it’s just at the boiling point, stirring often with a silicone or plastic spoon. You’ll see bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan when you’re almost there- keep stirring! As soon as bubbles start to rise in the middle of the milk, remove it from the heat and let it cool. You’ve successfully scalded milk!

Roll It Up

Take care to roll your cake tightly as you can so that the layers aren’t loose and floppy. You can do this by tucking the dough under itself as you roll it into a tube. Square off the edges of the dough tube with a pizza cutter or short knife once you’re done rolling it up so that you can easily join the sides together to make a ring. Once you’ve made the ring, use a sharp knife to get slits in the dough every couple inches, deep enough to go through two or three rolled layers- about 2/3rds of an inch.

Hide That Baby

We’re not actually going to bake the baby into the cake- it’s plastic and there’s always a worry about baking plastic- melting, chemicals leeching out, what have you. Instead, insert the baby into the baked cake from the bottom. My favorite way to do it is to place the freshly baked cake ring onto a cooling rack and cut a one inch slit through the bottom of the cake with a sharp knife. Push the baby through the cut and into the cake. Turn the cake back right side up so it can finish cooling. I usually forget where the heck the baby is even though I’m always the one to hide it- resist the urge to check once you’ve hidden it.

Decorate with Sugar

There’s many ways to decorate a king cake, but they almost all incorporate the traditional Mardi Gras yellow, green, and purple. Lots of cakes use a simple white confectioner’s sugar glaze directly on the cake and then tell you to dump the colored sanding sugars onto the glaze. It’s not my favorite presentation, because it often comes out messy and not worthy of all the time you’ve put into baking the cake. Instead, try this! Once your cake is completely cooled, whip up a simple sugar syrup solution (1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup sugar, mixed together until combined) and grab a basting brush. Brush a section of the cake with the syrup (just enough to get it wet, don’t soak it) and then generously sprinkle the yellow sanding sugar onto that section. Baste the next section and use the green, and then again with the purple. Repeat all the way around the cake ring, then go back and sprinkle more sugar where it might be needed. Once you’ve finished, you can use white confectioner’s sugar icing across the top for a beautiful look.

Now that you’ve gotten the lowdown, how can you fail? Let’s get baking!