King Cake Mini Parfaits for Mardi Gras

 King Cake Mini Parfaits are a fun mini dessert in celebration of Mardi Gras! While Mardi Gras is actually a season that begins January 6th,

it’s widely celebrated the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, known as “Fat Tuesday,” and day for indulging before the fasting season of Lent begins. In the early days of King Cake, a bean, pea, or coin was hidden inside the cake. The person who got the hidden piece was declared King for the day or was said to have good luck in the coming year.

The Mardi Gras tradition of King Cake has evolved today to using a small baby-shaped figurine, hidden inside the King Cake. The lucky person finding the baby in their slice of cake,

hosts the next party as “King” and provides the King Cake.

Originally King Cakes were slightly sweetened yeast loaves,

shaped in a circle or twisted into a braid, topped with icing or covered with glittering sugar. King Cakes are most often flavored with cinnamon, but have evolved to include fillings of cream cheese,

fruit fillings of apple, strawberry or lemon, and even praline.

These King Cake Mini Parfaits are a fun nod to the tradition of King Cake and a way to laissez les bons temps rouler without overindulging!

I used  2.5 ounce tasting dessert parfait glasses, but feel free to make these King Cake parfaits in any size using the glass of your choice.

Instead of cinnamon flavored cake, these parfaits are layered with a traditional yellow cake and a cinnamon buttercream frosting, tinted in the colors of Mardi Gras. . .  purple representing justice, green representing faith, and gold representing power. This Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting is a delicious, fluffy frosting to have in your baking arsenal to decorate cakes or cupcakes. The recipe makes 4 cups of frosting, easily divided in half for mini parfaits.

To make Mini King Cake Parfaits:

• Divide frosting into three bowls and tint each bowl with a Mardi Gras colors; green, gold and purple. I used Wilton gel colors Golden Yellow, Violet and Kelly Green for Mardi Gras colors.
• Add tinted frosting to a piping bag fitted with your piping tip of choice.
• Layer 1st color of frosting in bottom of parfait glass, add cubes of yellow cake. (Use the boxed cake mix of choice.) Repeat layers with 2nd and 3rd color of frosting, ending on frosting color to top parfait.
• Top with decorative sprinkles of choice.

Find more quick and easy recipes, party inspiration and cocktails

for a taste of the Big Easy to celebrate Mardi Gras,  HERE.