Mardi Gras King Cake (Printable)
Tender brioche dough with cinnamon-sugar swirl finished with vibrant icing and colorful sugars.
# What You Need:
→ Dough
01 - 4 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1/2 cup warm milk (110°F)
03 - 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
04 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
05 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
06 - 2 large eggs
07 - 1/2 tsp salt
08 - 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
09 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
10 - Zest of 1 lemon
→ Cinnamon Filling
11 - 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
12 - 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
13 - 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
→ Icing & Decoration
14 - 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
15 - 2–3 tbsp milk
16 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
17 - Pinch of salt
18 - Purple, green, and gold colored sugars
19 - 1 small plastic baby (optional)
# Steps:
01 - Combine warm milk and yeast in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes until foamy.
02 - Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then mix in salt, nutmeg, vanilla, and lemon zest.
03 - Add yeast mixture to butter mixture, then gradually mix in flour. Knead until soft and smooth dough forms, about 8 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with mixer and dough hook.
04 - Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approximately 1.5 hours.
05 - Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix until evenly blended.
06 - Punch down risen dough and roll out on floured surface to 10x20-inch rectangle. Brush melted butter over surface, then sprinkle evenly with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
07 - Starting from long side, roll dough into a log and pinch seam to seal. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet and form into a ring, pinching ends together.
08 - Cover and let rise until puffy, approximately 30–45 minutes. Optionally tuck plastic baby into dough from underneath before baking.
09 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.
10 - Mix powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and pinch of salt until smooth and pourable.
11 - Drizzle icing over cooled cake. Immediately sprinkle with colored sugars in alternating sections of purple, green, and gold.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The brioche dough is impossibly tender, almost like eating a sweet cloud with a cinnamon heart
- Watching people get excited about who might find the baby never gets old, even after years of making it
02 -
- The dough should feel slightly sticky after kneading, not dry, so resist adding too much extra flour or your cake will be tough
- Sealing the seam tightly when you roll the dough prevents the cinnamon sugar from leaking out during baking, which I learned the messy way
03 -
- Use a kitchen scale to measure the flour if you possibly can, as brioche dough is sensitive to flour amounts and weighing is much more accurate than scooping
- Warm your oven slightly by turning it on for just a minute, then turning it off and using that space for your dough to rise, which creates a perfectly draft-free environment