The New Orleans custom of the king cake has its mysterious roots in pre-medieval Europe. Early French settlers baked the first king cakes in Louisiana. While the story is open to many interpretations, in its simplest form the tradition consists of someone finding a tiny object hidden inside the cake. That person, the “king”, is then responsible for buying the next cake or throwing the next party. ( Variations on this theme abound southern Louisiana.) Thus the cycle which culminates on Mardi Gras starts on the feast of epiphany or kings day (January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas the 3 kings presented gifts to the Christ child). he first documented connection between Mardi Gras and the kings cake came on January 6, 1870, at the first ball of a new carnival organization called the twelfth night revelers. The TNRs introduced a giant cake ( with a bean inside) and offered slices to their lades in waiting. The lord of misrule, the TNRs leader, bungled the presentation, so the golden bean wasn’t claimed until the next year when Mardi Gras finally crowned its first queen. Over the years the item tucked inside the cake has included coins, peas, pecans, beans. In the 1930’s since many of these tiny objects were being swallowed, a formidable enamel doll was inserted. (Contrary to popular belief, these were not originally intended to represent the infant Jesus.) Sanitary and monetary factors caused these china dolls to be replaced with the plastic ones used today.

These oval-shaped, tasty desserts are topped with sugar granules in the official Carnival colors of purple, green, and gold.