Baking My First King Cake for 2026

Well, I finished baking it.

Excellent proof and rise
The interior crumb is good and soft with a medium crisp outer shell


But instead of using a brioche dough, i used a sweet roll dough, for time purposes.
The brioche dough takes an extra day to get that tangy flavor

The only reason I used cherry is , I made some pastries a couple of days ago and I had extra filling left over. So I used that.

I give it 6 out of 10 -- not picture worthy, even though it is pretty

I’m curious, why not just buy one? There are many good king cakes out there that are most likely cheaper than what you spent to make a 6 out of 10 one. Do you make your own marshmallows and saltine crackers too?

Just buy one

That is funny.

And I get why you would try to make one. For most dishes I would agree. King Cake is not one of them. I'm on Team Buy It. I say that but I make a boudin king cake every year for the route.

I know...it's not a "true" king cake. It's shaped like one though.