King cake: A rich tradition

The writer Robert Tallent once described Carnival as "a mock revival of monarchic rule," and every year in New Orleans, the thrills and glories of this make-believe world begin anew on January 6, also known as Twelfth Night, with the Twelfth Night Revelers bal masque.

To the casual observer it might seem a strangely formalized, if not downright quaint, spectacle. But at its heart is a ritual that is key to understanding how a sticky, coffee cake-type pastry—king cake—evolved into one of the most recognizable, and hungered for, symbols of New Orleans and Mardi Gras.

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Unmasked and the complete King Cake History