9 King Cake Recipes That Reign Over Mardi Gras

You can't go wrong with a classic. Cut into this king cake to find a delicious cream-cheese filling.

"Not too sweet, not too bready, with a rich, tender crumb and the traditional lemon/nutmeg flavors of a genuine NOLA king cake. Great with coffee. Best eaten same day but pretty darn good the day after. Enjoy, y'all!" — mississippimarion

Here's a non-traditional way to make a very traditional cake. Use your bread machine to mix and knead the dough. Fill the dough with a buttery cinnamon-pecan filling.

King cake on the quick! Prepared sweet-roll dough and colorful frostings speed up the cake-making process. "Beads, additional plastic babies, curly ribbon, and other festive trinkets can be used to decorate the cake." —BUDDHAFULDREAMER

In France, Galette des Rois (translation: king cake) is baked during the pre-Lenten season. The tradition behind this dessert includes hiding a bean or fève (a small trinket) in the cake, recipe creator ULYBERT explains: "The person who finds the fève in his or her slice becomes king or queen for the day."

This colorful king cake has less sugar than the traditional cake and calls for reduced fat margarine instead of butter. Banana and pineapple give the cream-cheese filling a fun, fruity twist.

Vanilla, nutmeg, lemon, and buttermilk flavor these cupcakes, which take less time to bake than king cake. 

"Better than bakeries! Living and eating in New Orleans for my entire life I was a bit skeptical if I could actually pull off a king cake," writes New Orleans local and home cook Laur5270, who recommends omitting the raisins to make the recipe more traditional.

With sour cream baked into the dough, a praline-cream cheese filling, and a creamy vanilla glaze, this king cake tastes extra decadent.