The Mardi Gras king cakes begin to appear on the shelves of bakeries and grocery stores in New Orleans right after New Year’s.
However the official season doesn’t start until January 6th (Three Kings Day).
The king cake is made like cinnamon rolls and shaped into an oval, then iced. The decorating is not difficult, you just drizzle purple (for justice or Jesus as king), green (for faith) and yellow/gold (for power). A small plastic baby doll is baked inside the king cake.
Making a king cake can be time consuming. You use a yeast dough so you have to let it rise, punch it down and let it rise again.
I found this easy recipe for king cake. Get a can of cinnamon rolls and shape into an oval. Put the doll inside one of the rolls. The only decorations needed are the colored sugars. Whoever gets the baby provides the next king cake.
