Reporter: Lola Himmaugh

January 26, 2023

King Cake Part 1

The king cake stems from a pagan festival celebrated by the Ancient Roman Empire.  This festival was called Saturnalia. Every year during the festival, a cake was made with a fava bean baked inside (fava beans at the time were considered magical).  Whoever got the bean in his slice of cake became the “King of the Bean” and the “Lord of Misrule,” able to rule over all those who usually held the power.

As Mardi Gras nears, King Cakes are being put out all across stores. There’s many different kinds of King Cakes. You can get cream cheese, pecan praline, traditional (cinnamon), and fruit fillings such as: raspberry, strawberry, apple, cherry, and blueberry.  People even like to mix cream cheese with one of the fruit fillings. Some well-known bakeries and brands of king cake are; Gambinos, Nonna Randazzos, Don Phuong, Sugar Love Cakes, and of course your generic store brand king cake. Around Mardi-Gras time, you can see lines of cars and people waiting outside these bakeries to get one of these delicious fresh baked king cakes. King cakes can range from $10-70. Many king cakes have a small plastic baby you can hide inside the king cake. Some king cakes even come with mardi gras beads, or doubloons. 

Sources: https://gambinos.com/shop/king-cakes