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History of the French King Cake |
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The New Orleans tradition of celebrating the feast of the three Magi with a special cake is rooted in several European cultures. As far back
as the first half of the sixteenth century, France commemorated King's Day, which falls twelve days after Christmas, with a Twelfth Night cake. In the seventeenth century, Louis XIV took part in at least one Twelfth
Night festival where a bean or ceramic figure was hidden in the cake, also known as a gateau des Rois (King's Cake). |
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The Twelfth Night cake custom is still widely observed in France, where families and friends gather around one of the different
cakes served at King cake soirees. In some regions the couronne, made from brioche dough topped with a fruit-festooned sugar glaze, is favored. In Paris and other major cities, a fancier galette filled with
frangipane (almond cream paste), prevail. |
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"In most areas of France, a tiny plastic king or queen is baked into the galette des Rois, but in some rural towns you can still find
the little ceramic toys and animals that have been inserted in the cakes for hundreds of years." Jean-Luc Albian, a French pastry chef who bakes the French-style cakes in his suburban New Orleans shop, Maurice
French Pastries. "When we have a King cake party in France, we refer to the galette de Rois tradition as pulling the king or queen," he continues. "The guest who receives a serving with the trinket hidden
inside picks a consort. Then the pair, who will host the next King's Day Party, are crowned with the gold and silver paper diadems that adorn the cake. In France, King's Day celebrations end on January 31." |
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France's brioche-like couronne became the forerunner of New Orleans's king cake when Creoles, colonials of French and Spanish
descent who settled in New Orleans, adopted the French Twelfth Night cake and blended it with the Spanish tradition of mounting a grand ball on Twelfth Night. By the end of the of the eighteenth century,
party loving colonists had extended the tradition into an entire season of balls les bals des Rois (the balls of the Kings), which started on the Twelfth Night and ended on Mardi Gras. The King and |
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Queen chosen the first night by finding the bean in the cake were responsible for the holding the next ball, where the luck of the bean
decides their successors.The colors of purple, green and gold first appeared on the cakes after 1872, when the Rex krew (organization) selected those colors for its opening Mardi Gras parade. The colors came to stand
for Mardi Gras and took on symbolic meanings: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. |
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French King Cake (Flaky puff pastry filled with cream of almond, delicately baked then glazed) |
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Toll Free (888) 285-8261 |
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