The Ultimate Mardi Gras Cake

It’s nearly that time of year again – Mardi Gras! Just because you don’t live in New Orleans doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate Mardi Gras too. For us, it’s part of the kick-off to our celebration of Lent and Easter. Fat Tuesday is a day excess – a time for us to remember just how blessed.

Traditionally, this day is also known in our home as Pancake Tuesday. We have a big homemade pancake dinner at home (sometimes heading out to one at church if the timing works), followed by a decadent and delicious Mardi Gras cake.

There are different stories about the official Mardi Gras colors (purple, green, and gold) and their meanings. According to one, the colors were chosen in 1892 and were said to symbolize justice (purple), faith (green), and gold (power). Purple is also the liturgical color for the Lenten season in the Catholic church so perhaps there are ties to this as well.

Whatever the reason behind them, I personally just love how vibrant they are! This color combination certainly screams celebration (and excess perhaps?), but the colors also hint of royalty to me which again, takes me right back to the religious connections of the holiday.

THE ULTIMATE MARDI GRAS CAKE

Be sure to scroll down for a printable version of the cake recipe!

Ingredients:

White cake :

2 boxes of white cake mix

8 large Egg whites

2 ½ C water

1 C canola oil

3 – 9inch round cake pans

1 – 10inch round cake board

Cake directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and spray cake pans with  pam baking spray

Using a hand mixer and large bowl, beat all cake ingredients until

combined and smooth

Divide the cake batter into the three cake pans

Place into the oven and back for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick

comes out clean

Allow to cool completely

Vanilla Frosting:

3 C unsalted butter, softened

6 C powdered sugar

5 tbsp heavy whipping cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

Purple, Gold, and Leaf Green Gel Food coloring

3 medium piping bags fitted with a round tip

1 small angled spatula

Building the Cake directions :

Place one cake layer onto the cake board and cut the dome off the cake to make an even layer

Repeat step with other two layers

Scoop 3 C of frosting into one bowl and add in a few drops of purple.
Mix until combined

Scoop 3 C of frosting into the second bowl and add in a few drops of
green, mix until combined

Using the remaining frosting, mix in a few drops of gold gel food
coloring and mix until combined

Scoop 1 C of purple frosting onto the bottom layer and spread evenly

Place the second cake layer on top

Spread 1 C of green frosting on top and smooth evenly

Place the last layer of cake on top

Smooth evenly any frosting sticking out of the sides

Scoop remaining frostings into their own bags

Decorating directions:

Using the Purple frosting, pipe a row going from top to bottom of dots
onto the side of your crumb coated cake. Try and keep the dots similar
in size and in a straight line.

Use the angled spatula to smush the dots.

Hold the spatula horizontally and apply pressure to the first dot.

Press hard enough so that the dot smushes down, but not so hard that
it loses its shape. When you reach the crumb coat, pull the spatula
away to the side, smearing the dot across the surface of the cake.

Repeat down the line until all of the dots have been smeared.

Pipe another row of dots using the green frosting so that they overlap
the first row of smeared dots.

Repeat the smearing technique with the gold frosting

For the final row, you can leave off at your last smear, or pipe a row
of dots and leave them un-smeared.

Repeat steps going in a circular pattern on the top of the cake

Place in the fridge overnight to allow frosting to harden before enjoying!

Notes:

This is not a traditional “King Cake”. Although it varies by location, King Cake in the United States is more like a coffee cake, although it is decorated with the same Mardi Gras colors. In our family, we have King Cake on Epiphany (January 6) in honor the kings who brought gifts to baby Jesus. Tradition holds that there were 3 of them (maybe this corresponds with the 3 colors too?).

However, in areas like New Orleans, King Cake is often served all the way from Epiphany through to Mardi Gras day. It’s customary to bake a small plastic baby in the cake. Whoever finds it is crowned the king or queen of the celebration. The baby also symbolizes good luck and prosperity to the person who finds it and they are supposed to supply the cake the following year or to throw the next Mardi Gras party.

You could easily bake a figurine (or fava beans which are sometimes used in place of the baby) into this cake if you want to follow a similar tradition to King Cake.