King Cake Season Is Here! - KPLC

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Grab your purple, green and gold! Mardi Gras is underway in Southwest Louisiana.

King cakes are intended to be enjoyed from Jan. 6 through Mardi Gras - falls on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

The Epiphany or “Twelfth Night” that falls on Jan. 6 is known religiously as the day the three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus and it marks the beginning of Mardi Gras celebrations.

Rouses Market is just one of the places around the area that makes and sells king cakes and have been the big item on customers’ grocery list.

“You will literally go home, buy the cake, go home have it for dessert...you’ll wake up around 2am and you’ll eat the rest and then you’ll blame the store manager because I’m sitting here telling you to do it,” Rouses manager Chad Seales said.

King cakes are more than a tasty treat, the tradition dates back to the 1800s when it was brought to New Orleans from France. The oval shaped cake representing unity of faiths, is typically decorated with Mardi Gras colors: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power. Hidden in that cake is a small plastic baby that symbolizes Jesus.

“You take it to the party and whoever gets that slice that has the baby, they got to bring the king cake to the next event,” Seales said.

Along with that, there’s tons of other ways to interpret the tradition.

Louisiana bakeries have put their own flare on king and queen cakes.

“These are original. These are the best king cakes that you’ll ever have,” Seales said. “We have all our local places that make amazing king cakes in Lake Charles. You have some local bakeries that make amazing king cakes. But these come from our recipe out of Thibodaux, Louisiana. You come in and we have them boxed up and like I said it’s a piece of Louisiana.”

Seales said he’s happy to see so many people excited about this tradition and about the 42 different flavors they offer at Rouses.

For those who may be out of sate or wanting to send someone a cake, Rouses does ship king cakes, for more information, CLICK HERE.

Copyright 2022 KPLC. All rights reserved.