king cake

noun

plural king cakes

: a sweet ring-shaped cake traditionally with a symbolic bean or figurine of the infant Jesus inside that is served from the Epiphany to Shrove Tuesday

Of course, no one does king cake quite like New Orleans. It's decorated in the colors of Mardi Gras—purple (to represent justice), green (faith) and gold (power)—as chosen by one of the city's first Mardi Gras organizations, or krewes. A token or trinket—usually a plastic baby symbolizing the infant Jesus—is hidden inside. Whoever finds the baby may be crowned king or queen of the party; more important, that person is responsible for bringing the cake to the next gathering.—

Noelle Carter

Examples of king cake in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Like an American king cake, the galette des rois often contains a hidden bean or token (fève), intended to convey good luck to the person who finds it. —

Cece Pascual, Washington Post, 19 July 2024 The Mardi Gras traditions of spending weeks partying and eating king cake all lead up to one day, Ash Wednesday. —

Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024 Another common tradition associated with Mardi Gras is the eating of the king cake. —

Ray Padilla, The Courier-Journal, 11 Jan. 2024 Grab your king cake and masquerade masks: Mardi Gras is arriving particularly early this year. —

Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for king cake

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'king cake.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.