Mardi Gras King Cakes

The early colonists who came to New Orleans area brought with them the tradition of the King Cake. There are parties that have been documented back to the middle part of the 18th century for King Cakes in New Orleans. The King cakes for the Mardi Gras come from a variety of backgrounds and as such , can appear in a multitude of styles.

The Mardi Gras King cakes that are done in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festival are said to be anything from completely simple to shockingly ornate.

The king cake of the New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition comes in a number of styles. The most simple, said to be the one that is most often used for the Mardi Gras tradition is a simple ring that is made up of something very like bread. It is like a brioche and is topped with icing that is colored the typical colors of Mardi Gras, purple, green and gold. Some of them take a filling such as a fruity topping type filling, while others are cream cheese or praline type fillings.

Mardi Gras King cakes that are cajun in style are typically fried in fat, in the same way that a donut would be deep friedl. They are topped, rather than with a frosting, instead with bright gaily colored sugar that is large granule and colored in the traditional colors of Mardi Gras, again, the green, gold, and purple. In this case, the cakes are rather integrated with the Lenten time when the colors, rather than represent the royalty and other things such as Mardi Gras typically is said to represet, the colors are staid to represent other values, such as the purple, which is representative of the passion of Christ, while the gold stands for the many rewards that can be gleaned from leading a Christian lifestyle and the green stands for the hope that all Christians feel.

For those in New Orleans, the tradition is that a small trinket is baked in the cake or is given to those who order the cake ( a nod toward safety) The tradtion is that whoever finds the trinket in the cake has to get the next King Cake that is needed. In most cases the King cake is a small plastic doll. The next most common one for use in the King cakes is that of a king wearing a small crown.

Whoever finds the trinket is called the King or the Queen of that day and there may be also separate cakes that are used for the males and the females so that a king and a queen can be named. The king and the queen also may have the obligation to buy the next king cake or to host the party that is required. Most people who live near the festival site, or on the parade route for the carnival host King Cake parties for their neighbors or even for a neighborhood.

Mardi Gras King cakes are a very large part of the Mardi Gras festival, with some krewes even selecting their king and queen from the cake as the neighborhood people do, by the finding of the trinket. Very seldom is just one king cake used during a Mardi Gras event, with many of the lovely and delicious convections consumed over the course of the carnival.