How the King Cake is made

CINCINNATI – Fat Tuesday marks the last day to indulge in junk food and sweets before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

A traditional King Cake is a mix of coffee cake and a cinnamon roll with lots of sugar.

The King Cake comes from the biblical story of the three wise men who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus.

And a plastic baby usually hides inside. Tradition says that the person who finds the baby must buy the cake the following year.

So, you might visit Graeter’s today to pick up a cake for your coworkers’ friends.

But the process to make that King Cake takes hours, sometimes days, at Graeter’s Bakery.

“By the time Tuesday rolls around, we’ll have made about 375 large ones and 1,200 small ones,” shared Graeter’s head baker Anthony Schwier.

Anthony has been at Graeter for exactly 20 years, long enough to perfect the process.

Adam Schrand

“16 ingredients in our Danish dough that we put together 500 pounds at a time,” Anthony said.

The made-from-scratch dough is filled with a homemade cinnamon butter filling.

It is cut into strips and braided together.

“I think we’re the only bakery that braids them,” Anthony said.

WCPO

Anthony shared that it takes a minute to master the braid, but his team makes it look easy.

Is braiding the authentic way to do it? Anthony said that’s how they do it.

“Just like it looks, the frosting sinks into the braids,” she said.

The King Cakes rest for about 25 minutes in a proofing box, which is a warm, high humidity box. Then they go into the oven for another 20-25 minutes or so.

“I like to run the oven,” Anthony said.

“I like seeing the finished product because it’s made from scratch, so it’s satisfying to see our work in the end.”

The oven feels like a difficult place to be in for hours on end, it’s obviously very hot, but Anthony watches the rotating racks and knows when the cakes are ready.

“You’ll notice they’re dull in color,” Anthony said.

They are. The dough is baked, but appears flat. So Anthony grabbed a spray gun and added a quick glaze of apricot glaze to give them shine.

And again, Anthony made it look easy when he dipped the baked King Cake into a vat of warm frosting. It’s similar to how they dip Danish pastries.

King Cakes are covered in sugar: purple, green and yellow for Mardi Gras. A Graeter touch: small candied cherries are also placed on top.

WCPO

The sugar is a little harder than it looks, the glaze dries quickly so you have to be quick.

You hide the plastic baby yourself, along with a necklace and a coin, inside the cake.

“We put them in the stores, we go down and they’re gone, they sell out pretty quickly,” Anthony said.

Graeter’s King Cakes are available in stores today.

WCPO

Inside Graeter’s Bakery: How King Cake is Made