Boozy King Cake

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It’s Mardi Gras time! Mardi gras celebrations go wild starting tomorrow and Fat Tuesday is days away. I have a couple fun recipes planned for you in honor of this colorful and boisterous holiday. First, this boozy king cake is king of all cakes since it has a rich brown sugar Grand Marnier filling, crushed pecans, and a Bailey’s glaze that will inevitably make you go back for another slice!

Then, for your second Mardi Gras recipe, I’ll be back on ‘Show Me St. Louis’ on Friday for their big Mardi Pardi Show! The hilarious hosts and I will be shaking up a King Cake Cocktail that is the an alcohol forward drink version of this boozy king cake. It’s going to be so much fun, so make sure to tune in at 10 am! If you aren’t local, here’s that video with the recipe to my King Cake Cocktail!

Mardi Gras

Before we get to this beautifully boozy king cake, let’s talk about this eventful holiday and how it turned into the party of the year. Mardi Gras is a carnival that is held on Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday. Most of us think of New Orleans as the origin of Mardi Gras, since that is where the celebration of the year commences! However, Mardi Gras has a colorful history dating back to midieval Europe. Mardi Gras was only brought to New Orleans in 1781. To learn all about the history of Mardi Gras, check out, Mardi Gras History 

A Louisiana King cake Celebrates Mardi Gras, as it honors the three Kings. The tradition of eating a King Cake during Mardi Gras was said to have been broght to Louisiana in 1870.

Mardi Gras begins on the twelfth night, or “Epiphany”, which means to show. According to King Cake History, since Jesus first showed himself to the three wisemen and the world on this day, this cake includes a trinket like a baby to symbolize this holy day.

King Cake

A traditional king cake is a cross between a sweet brioche bread and a cake that is twisted into a ring then decorated with glaze and traditional Mardi Gras colored sprinkles. Fillings such as praline, cream cheese, or cinnamon tend to fill king cakes. However, this boozy king cake has some ritzy twists!

The colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. Purple signifies justice. Gold signifies power. And green is for faith. You’ll notice that you usually see the colors separated rather than mixed together on treats and decorations.

The circular appearance of a King Cake symbolizes the appearance of a King’s crown. The round shape emulates the unity of the three faiths.

As previously mentioned, king cakes have a trinket of some sort, usually a miniature baby or gold coin, hidden inside to symbolize the holy day. These days, whomever receives this trinket in their slice of King cake will then have good fortune and luck coming their way.

I’ve eaten a lot of king cakes in my life. I have yet to get that sneaky baby…!

Boozy King Cake

For my version of a king cake I wanted to make a boozy king cake that brought the party spirit to this traditional treat.

This brioche like dough is filled with a rich cinnamon spiced brown sugar grand marnier paste, then sprinkled with crushed up roasted pecans. The boozy king cake is then rolled up and shaped into a ring. Then it’s baked and smothered in a Bailey’s glaze and sprinkled with purple, gold, and green sanding sugars.

My father-in-law said my boozy king cake has a royal taste and regal texture, and it truly does! And what fun it is to look at and hope to get the trinket!

I made Bea and Tilly their own non-alcoholic version of this boozy king cake, and lucky kids, they each found a baby! What are the odds?!

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Spiced Citrus King Cake Dough

Much like making Cinnamon Rolls and yeasted donuts, you will need to allow rising time for this boozy king cake.

There are three parts to this boozy king cake: the Cakey dough, the grand marnier filling, and the Bailey’s glaze.

Begin with that sweet dough. This dough is so flavorful with lemon zest, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg baked into each glorious bite.

First, you need to proof your yeast. Since I use my stand mixer with the dough hook to knead this boozy king cake, I sprinkled the yeast right into the bowl of the stand mixer. Warm up your milk to between 105-110 degrees. Use a thermometer for accuracy! Yeast will not activate unless the liquid temperature is correct.

Think of yeast like the Goldilocks of baking! Temp Too low, it won’t proof. Temp Too high and the yeast is killed. It must be just right!

While your yeast proofs for 5 minutes, work on melting the butter and in a separate bowl, whisking up your yolks. Reserve the egg whites for a cake like, funfetti cupcakes, lemon elderflower cake, or Italian meringue frosting.

Once the yeast is activated, add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl.

For this king cake, I mixed up my flour with the salt, lemon zest, spices, and brown sugar in a separate bowl. But its a Mardi Gras, so feel free to let loose and throw all the ingredients in at once!

Use a wooden spoon to mix this to a shaggy dough. You may need to butter up your hands and shape the dough to a ball before turning it over to the mixer.

Then let the mixer knead the king cake dough for about 5 minutes using speed 8.

Meanwhile, butted up a large bowl. Remove the dough ball and place inside. Cover loosely with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Grand Marnier Filling

After wandering aimlessly at Target for a couple of hours I returned to my boozy king cake!

The next step in this boozy king cake is to make your filling, aka, the best cinnamon filling you’ve ever had! This boozy king cake is like cinnamon rolls on a boozy high!

Preheat your oven to 350. Use the back of your measuring spoon to finely crush up pecans. Then toast on a baking sheet for a few minutes until toasty and aromatic. Remove to a bowl and cool.

Meanwhile, In a bowl, mix softened butter with brown sugar and flour until a paste forms. Then add spices and grand marnier. You will have a rich, fragrant, citrusy and warm paste that you’ll have your nose in taking it all in. But set aside your blissful aromatherapy session for a moment!

Get your risen dough and gently punch it down. Take a look at Better Than Bobby Flay’s Buns for a video! Then gather the soft and billowy dough onto a floured surface.

Roll it into a long rectangle. I made it 11 x 20 in order to shape it into a ring that still had a hole in the middle and was leaner than traditionally fatter cinnamon rolls.

Take the paste and spread it on, careful to leave a half inch free at the long seams to prevent leaking. Sprinkle on crushed pecan bits. Your filling should extend farther on the short ends. Someone won’t get filling otherwise. Oops! But alas, to make up for my mistake, that’s where the baby is! Shhh, our secret!

Next, tightly roll it up. Form it into a ring shape, pinching the ends together.

Then put a piece of parchment onto that cooled baking sheet and put the king cake onto it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another 20-30 minutes.

Then brush with some egg wash or a bit of buttermilk. Bake approximately 30-40 minutes.

Bailey’s Glaze

This boozy king cake will make your house smell incredible! That combo of lemon zest in the dough along with grand marnier in the filling combines with the spices for a cozy, warm and fresh scent that’s invigorating. Good thing, since you need energy for Mardi Gras!

The Bailey’s glaze and colorful sprinkles are the last step to your boozy king cake. You can also opt for a non alcoholic version by swapping out a donut glaze from Maple Bacon Donuts.

Once your boozy king cake has cooled, make the Bailey’s glaze by whisking powdered sugar with Baileys. If the glaze is too thick, thin it down to desired consistency with whole milk or buttermilk.

Then cut a slit in the spot of the king cake you want to hide the baby and slide inside. Next, drizzle the glaze over the whole cake.

Lastly, take your gold, purple, and green sanding sugars and sprinkle each color beside the other in any order you want.

Have a happy and safe Mardi Gras celebration! If you make this boozy king cake, tag me on Instagram with @ritzymomblog for a chance to be featured in my stories or feed!

And make sure to catch me on Show Me St. Louis for my king cake cocktail!

Boozy King Cake Recipe

Make sure to check out my King Cake Cocktail!