A New Orleans Mardi Gras King Cake

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Versions of the famous King Cake, a circular shaped, cinnamon pastry, filled with cream, praline, cream cheese, or other sweet confections, covered in frosting and then decorated with purple, green, and gold sugar, are known the world over. The cake is often eaten during Mardi Gras and on Fat Tuesday as that is the last day to indulge before Lent begins (and the associated fasting).

There is a rich history to the King Cake (see further reading at the end of the post). While it is now typically associated with Mardi Gras (starting with the 12th night during the Feast of the Epiphany and ending the day before Ash Wednesday, i.e. Fat Tuesday), celebration and indulgence, the cake and associated festivities extend back long before its Christian associations.

In order to trace the origin of the King Cake, we have to step back in time to the Roman days. Mardi Gras festivities and the King Cake both have origins in traditions associated with the Roman Lupercalia and Saturnalia festivals. Through the years, these became jumbled with Christian celebrations, though many aspects of the pre-Christian era remain.

The Saturnalia festival was celebrated on the winter solstice in order to honor Saturn, the god of agriculture. Cakes were a part of this celebration and within a cake was placed a fava bean; whoever found this magical bean in the cake became “King of the Saturnalia.” This individual could then give orders to people and was in charge of presiding over the merrymaking. As a result, the festival was a time when traditional social and power norms were temporarily suspended and subverted, resulting in raucous parties and the interruption of everyday behavior and tasks.

Likewise, the Lupercalia pastoral festival, which took place from February 13-15th, was a time of “bloody, violent and sexually-charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility.” (5)

Sound like Mardi Gras and the King Cake?

The significant overlap between these festivals and Mardi Gras as we know it today speaks to the Christian pattern of adopting so-called “pagan” holidays and re-signifying them with the Christian Calendar as a way to reinforce Christianity (the word pagan typically is used to refer to people who do not believe in the monotheistic God of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and is often derogatory in nature). In fact, it was not until the Middle Ages that this cake ceremony began to be associated with Christianity.

Mardi Gras has become a time of cacophonous, colorful, vibrant, excessive, and wild festivities. Much like the subversion of standard social norms in Roman holidays, people don costumes, dance, laugh, exchange beads, perform, indulge, and engage in behavior that might otherwise be criticized. And, much like the festival, the long history of hiding trinkets inside a cake has continued into the modern-day; however, now instead of a bean, cakes often have a small plastic baby inside. Whoever finds the baby is in charge of buying the next cake or holding the next party, depending on the person and preference. This tradition actually started in New Orleans and was made popular in the 1950s. Fun note-there are a lot of interesting “baby hidden in a king cake” images on google.

So, how did the King Cake tradition come to be synonymous with New Orleans?

The first Mardi Gras to take place in America was in 1699 in Mobile, Alabama, when French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville landed near present-day New Orleans, Louisiana. According to historical records, they held a small celebration and dubbed their landing spot Point du Mardi Gras. The tradition of street parties, masked balls, and lavish dinners continued until the Spanish, taking control of New Orleans, banned the practice in the late 18th/early 19th century. The end to the festivity was short-lived; however, and the practice re-emerged in 1827, shortly after Louisiana became a state.

The French influence is still present in New Orleans today (one only has to check out the French Quarter to see it), and has played an integral role in the adoption of the King Cake. Commonly cited as arriving sometime in the late 19th century (1870), the King Cake has become an icon of Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans. In New Orleans, the cakes mark the Carnival season and are found in almost every bakery and store in New Orleans during the festival season. Their popularity has increased through time, likely due to the advent of newspaper print and now social media, which have publicized the cakes. As a result, King Cakes are now traditionally associated with New Orleans Mardi Gras.
Because of their popularity and shifting food trends, the New Orleans King Cake has undergone much revision.

Generally, the cakes have become richer, due to the addition of more egg yolks and sweet confections. It is also now common for the cakes to be filled, a tradition which started in the 1980s. The shape of the cakes has transformed too. Starting in the 20th century, New Orleans cakes went from oval (the shape I went with) to a braided pattern thought to be reminiscent of a crown. In the last decade, mini King Cakes have also become popular. However, variety in the cake still exists and the dough, fillings, icing, and embellishments all differ from bakery to bakery.

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Further Reading

Dark Side of Mardi Gras https://ghostcitytours.com/new-orleans/ghost-stories/dark-side-mardi-gras/

Three Men and a Baby: A Brief History of King Cakes; https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/three-men-and-a-baby-a-brief-history-of-king-cakes/

NEW ORLEANS CARNIVAL KREWES: The History, Spirit and Secrets of Mardi Gras by Rosary O’Neill