New Orleans Cream Cheese King Cake
This homemade cream cheese stuffed king cake is the perfect dessert for your Mardi Gras celebration! Moist cinnamon dough with hints of citrus stuffed with cream cheese filling and drizzled with lemony icing. It’s topped off with purple, green, and gold – the traditional colors of Mardi Gras. It’s the best king cake recipe!
I always miss home in New Orleans, but especially around Mardi Gras time! Spring always leaves me craving crawfish and a sweet and moist king cake. If they don’t sell them in your area, I’ll show you how to make your own king cake! For more New Orleans favorites, try Red Beans and Rice, Homemade Cajun Seasoning, and Creamy Andouille Sausage Pasta.
Recipe Quick Notes
TLDR: Traditional king cake stuffed with cream cheese filling. It’s basically a giant Mardi Gras flavored homemade cinnamon roll. It’s a necessity for Mardi Gras season!
Lauren’s Take: Oftentimes grocery store king cakes can be dry and flavorless. I created the dough in this recipe to be extra moist and fluffy, flavored with lots of cinnamon and citrus zest. No more sad king cakes!
Taste: Cinnamon dough with a hint of lemon filled with sweetened cream cheese, then topped with a lightly flavored vanilla lemon glaze. It’s a sweet New Orleans treat.
Texture: Moist and soft dough, similar to the center of a cinnamon roll.
Time: Total, you’re all in for 2 and a half hours, but more than half of that is dough proofing time!
What is King Cake?
King cake is a traditional New Orleans dessert served during Mardi Gras or carnival season. It’s made of a sweet brioche dough with cinnamon, and topped with purple, green, and gold sugar or icing. There’s often a plastic baby hidden inside.
New Orleans is a city rich in history and traditions, and the king cake is no different. It was most likely brought to the city from France about 200 years ago. The traditional Mardi Gras colors are used to decorate king cake. Purple signifying royalty, green for faith, and gold for power.
It’s tradition to hide a plastic baby inside of the king cake. The person who gets the king cake baby in their piece is said to have good luck, and gets to be “king for a day.” More recently, if you get the baby, you’re supposed to bring the next king cake.
Mardi Gras season, and therefore king cake season, starts on Twelfth Night, which falls twelve days after Christmas (January 5th or 6th depending on who you ask). It celebrates the Epiphany in the Catholic religion – when the three wise men went to visit baby Jesus. Hence, the baby in the king cake.
The carnival season is celebrated up until Mardi Gras day, which is always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It falls somewhere in February or March, and is on a different day every year. We call Mardi Gras day “Fat Tuesday” because it is all about living it up before repenting the next day!
Expert Tips
- About an hour before you want to start, take out the eggs so they can come to room temperature, and the butter and cream cheese so they can soften.
- Weigh the flour with a kitchen scale to get a more accurate measurement.
- You can use a gallon sized plastic zip top bag as a piping bag. Just fill and snip the corner off.
- Roll a ball of foil, generously coat it in cooking spray, and nestle it into the empty space in the center of the dough. This will prevent the king cake dough from spreading all the way inward and help it keep its ring shape.
- Wait until the king cake has cooled before you make the icing. If you make it too early, it will harden.
Ingredients & Substitutions
See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and measurements.
- Active dry yeast – You can find this in the baking aisle at the grocery store. Note, this is different from instant yeast. They usually come in small packets, but be sure to measure since different packages can contain different amounts.
- Unsalted Butter – I recommend using a European style butter for the best flavor.
- All purpose flour – I used regular AP flour for this recipe. Be sure to weigh in grams rather than by cups! If you don’t have a food scale, you can spoon flour into a measuring cup then level it off with a knife.
- Egg wash – Egg wash is simply an egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon of water. You can apply it with a pastry or barbecue brush.
- Lemon – Be sure to zest the lemon first before squeezing it for juice.
- Cream cheese – Two blocks of cream cheese are needed. Go for the full fat kind.
- Sanding sugar – sanding sugar has a slightly larger grain than granulated sugar. It’s popular for decorating cakes and cookies. A traditional king cake is decorated with purple, green and gold sugar.
- King cake baby – This is optional, but a fun way to celebrate a Mardi Gras tradition. You can also use a large dried bean. Just be careful not to swallow or choke on the baby!
- Variation – Swap out the cream cheese filling for other varieties. Fruit fillings are common like lemon, strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. You can also do a praline filling, or a mix of cream cheese with another filling.
How to Make Homemade King Cake
Sprinkle yeast over warm milk, and let sit until you see bubbling activity.
Add wet ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the dough hook until combined. Sprinkle in flour, salt, ground cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix starting on low, and working your way up to high until dough has formed a ball.
Transfer dough to a floured surface. It should be smooth and slightly sticky to the touch.
Knead the dough until elastic. Form into a ball, and transfer to the greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Dough should double in size.
Mix together ingredients for the cinnamon filling and set aside. Mix together ingredients for the cream cheese filling and set aside.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and cut in half. Roll each piece into a rectangle, about 10 x 18 inches and ¼ inch thick.
Spread half of the softened butter over the rectangle, then sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture over each rectangle evenly.
Pipe half of the cream cheese mixture along one long side of each rectangle. Roll the dough rectangles into rolls, starting from the long end. Seal the seam well by wetting and pinching.
Gently stretch out each roll to about 24 inches long, this will make it easier to twist them around each other.
Gently twist the rolls around each other, then seal the ends by pinching together. Tuck the seamed ends under the roll.
Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. Dough should almost double in size again. Roll a ball of foil into an oval shape, spray generously with cooking spray, and put in the center of the cake to prevent it from spreading inward.
Brush king cake with egg wash, and bake until dough is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once the cake has cooked, mix together icing and pour over the king cake, then sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Looking for more southern style desserts? Check out this easy Pecan Cobbler, ready in about 35 minutes!
Equipment Needed
Storage & make ahead
Storage: Store your king cake in an airtight container to keep it fresh. Keep at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Eat within 2-3 days.
Freeze: You can freeze this king cake, although it may not be as good as when it’s fresh. Freeze individually cut slices wrapped in wax paper, and store for a few months. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. If you know ahead of time you want to freeze some of the king cake, freeze without the icing. Then you can ice the cake when you defrost it.
Make ahead: You can make this king cake a day ahead of time before you want to serve it! You may want to ice it just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer to blend dough ingredients PRIOR to adding flour. Mix in the flour with a silicone spatula, and you’ll have to mix and knead the dough by hand.
The small plastic baby inside of a king cake symbolizes baby Jesus, and is supposed to bring good luck. If you get the baby in your piece of king cake, you get to be “king for a day.”
I like to stick the baby into the cake after baking and before icing.
King cake is made out of a sweetened brioche dough flavored with cinnamon, and topped with icing. You can find king cakes stuffed with praline and cream cheese filling.
More New Orleans Recipes
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This post was updated in 2024 with re-edited photos, more concise step by step photos, and updated text. The recipe is the same.
Cream Cheese Stuffed King Cake
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick, melted*)
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 600 grams all purpose flour (plus more for dusting (about 4.5 cups)**)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Zest of 1 lemon
Cinnamon filling
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (1.5 sticks , softened)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Cream cheese filling
- 16 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Egg wash
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Purple, green, and gold sanding sugar for decorating
Instructions
PREP
- Two hours before you want to start, take out eggs, butter, and cream cheese to soften.2 eggs, 16 ounces cream cheese, ½ cup unsalted butter
- To bloom the yeast, heat milk to 100-110°F, and pour into the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast over warmed milk, and let sit for 10 minutes. You should see bubbling activity.2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 cup whole milk
- Grease a large bowl for dough proofing.
DOUGH
- Add in eggs, butter, white sugar, and vanilla extract to stand mixer bowl, and mix with the dough hook until combined.2 eggs, ½ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sprinkle in flour, salt, ground cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix starting on low, and working your way up to high as it mixes (scraping down sides as needed), until dough has formed a ball, and is smooth texture and slightly tacky to the touch. You can add in more flour a tablespoon at a time if dough is too sticky.600 grams all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, Zest of 1 lemon
- Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead until elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Form into a ball, and transfer to the greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Dough should double in size.
CINNAMON FILLING
- Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside.½ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¾ cup unsalted butter
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Beat on low to combine, then on high until smooth. Pour into a piping bag* and set aside until ready.16 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup white sugar, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon lemon juice
ASSEMBLY
- After an hour of proofing, turn dough onto a floured surface and cut in half.
- Roll each piece into a rectangle, about 10 x 18 inches and ¼ inch thick.
- Spread half of the softened butter onto each rectangle, and sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture over each rectangle evenly.
- Pipe half of the cream cheese filling along one long end of each rectangle.
- Roll the dough rectangles into rolls, starting from the long end. Seal the seam well by wetting and pinching.
- Gently stretch out each roll to about 24 inches long, this will make it easier to twist them around each other.
- Lay the two rolls side by side on a greased baking sheet with parchment paper, and gently twist together, forming an oval. Seal the ends of each toll together and tuck seam under the other roll.
- Cover again with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise again, this time for 30 minutes. Dough should almost double in size again.
- Roll a ball of foil into an oval shape, spray generously with cooking spray, and put in the center of the cake to prevent it from spreading inward.
BAKE
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush king cake with egg wash, and bake for 30 minutes, until dough is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before adding icing.1 tablespoon water, 1 egg
DECORATE
- Mix milk, lemon juice, and vanilla together, and sift in powdered sugar. May need to add extra powdered sugar to get desired consistency. When king cake has cooled slightly, pour icing over, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.1 tablespoon milk, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup powdered sugar
Notes
- It is better to weigh your flour rather than use a measuring cup. A food scale comes in handy for this.
- You can use a gallon zip top plastic bag to fill as a piping bag. Snip the corner off to pipe.
- Don’t mix the icing until you are ready to use, as it will harden as it sits.
- How to store leftovers: Store your king cake in an airtight container to keep it fresh. This cake does not have to be refrigerated. Eat within a few days.
- How to freeze: You can freeze this king cake, although it may not be as good as when it’s fresh. Freeze individually cut slices wrapped in wax paper, and store for a few months. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. If you know ahead of time you want to freeze some of the king cake, freeze without the icing. Then you can ice the cake when you defrost it.
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
- food scale
- sifter or fine mesh strainer
Nutrition
Meet Lauren
I’m the blogger, recipe developer, food photographer, and otherwise food obsessed gal behind Lauren From Scratch. I was born and raised in New Orleans and lived in South Louisiana most of my life. Growing up around Cajun country has instilled a love of food that runs deep in my bones. I am passionate about food and teaching you how to make mouth-watering Louisiana inspired dishes in your own kitchen!
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I made the ugliest king cake ever! I def need more practice! However, despite its aesthetic, it was absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to make it again, maybe next time without the cream cheese filling at least until I get the hang of it. My dough tore in several places, I tried to fix with patches and water… It didn’t go well. I’ll enjoy the next try!
April, sorry this king cake didn’t come out that aesthetically pleasing! I’ve made my fair share of ugly king cakes 🙂 The frosting usually covers the tearing. Next time you can try piping in the cream cheese just before baking to see if that helps. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Lauren, I have not ever attempted anything this involved in baking and I was very intimidated and not confident that I could make this; however, the way you wrote the ingredients and directions I actually made it and the compliments I received gave me tremedous confidence! I am no longer afraid of baking. I am looking forward to baking again!
Thank you!!!
Hey Kimberley! This comment makes me so happy. I am glad the cake came out well and it helped with your baking confidence!