If you can’t celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans there’s not need to worry. You can bring the celebration home with these amazing Mardi Gras inspired desserts. Colorful and full of southern flavor these desserts are sure to make you feel like you’re in the Big Easy!
We have compiled lots of desserts for your Mardi Gras party. Include are authentic and traditional recipes like King Cake, pralines and New Orleans beignets as well as modern twists and festive creations like festive Mardi Gras cupcakes, colorful candy bark and spectacular milkshakes. You’re sure to find a Mardi Gras dessert for your Fat Tuesday celebration.
No Mardi Gras celebration is complete without a New Orleans King Cake. This traditional king cake is a New Orleans classic and is served in celebration of Mardi Gras. The cake is topped with a sweet glaze and festive sprinkles- but who will find the baby?!
Pecan pralines are the perfect tribute to Mardi Gras! They are easy and delicious.
Homemade cupcakes decorated perfectly with purple, yellow and green make the perfect mardi gras dessert.
These sourdough beignets are the perfect treat for Mardi Gras! They’re light, fluffy, and covered in a mountain of powdered sugar!
Splurge on Fat Tuesday with one of these over-the-top, New Orleans inspired, Mardi Gras milkshakes and let the good times roll!
Inspired by the New Orleans iconic Mardi Gras King Cake, these bars meet all of the flavor requirements and are just as delicious as the classic King Cake, but are much easier to make. With six layers consisting of a buttery shortbread crust topped with a rich, creamy cheesecake, followed by cinnamon spice candied pecans, then another layer of shortbread, coated with a vanilla glaze, and decorated with crunchy, colorful sanding sugar, these bars are perfect for any Mardi Gras celebration.
Celebrate the Carnival season with these easy and beautiful Mardi Gras-inspired cake pops. These fun cake pops are an unexpected twist on a classic King cake featuring the traditional flavors of cinnamon, vanilla, and pecan and topped with festive purple, green, and yellow decorations. This tasty and colorful bite-sized treat is sure to be a hit at your Mardi Gras party.
This Mardi Gras inspired DIY candy bark is easy to make and so colorful and fun. It’s a great dessert option for your Mardi Gras party.
Carnival season in New Orleans means it’s time to bake up a King Cake for Mardi Gras! This Gluten-Free King Cake recipe is vegan, allergy-free, lightened-up, and low in sugar! A rich brioche-style cake ring with a sweet, buttery filling, decorated with icing and bold colored sugar crystals! A classic Fat Tuesday dessert everyone will love!
The dessert is quite simple and sophisticated at the same time. Bananas caramelized in butter and brown sugar are flambéed in rum then served over vanilla ice cream. The combination of the creamy frozen ice cream, topped with the boozy, warm bananas and drizzled with caramel sauce is like a love potion; you’ll be a goner with the first bite!
Paula moved from her native Guatemala to SW Florida with her husband and two children and together they are discovering what it means to live life between two languages.
Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .
When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.
Latest posts by Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz (see all)
- Easy Recipe for Pupusas: How to Make the Best Pupusas - February 23, 2024
- Guatemalan Tripe Stew Recipe in Tomato Sauce (Panza en Tiras) - February 19, 2024
- Guatemalan Fig Candy Recipe: Maleta de Higos - February 18, 2024
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FAQs
The name “king cake” comes from the Biblical story of the three kings who bring gifts to Baby Jesus. A blend of coffee cake and cinnamon roll, king cake is usually iced in yellow, green and purple – the colors of Mardi Gras -- and is frequently packed with fruit fillings and decadent cream cheeses.
What is the most popular New Orleans dessert? ›
Beignets. Sometimes called a "French donut," these decadent treats were brought to Louisiana by the Cajuns. A beignet is a square piece of dough that, once fried, forms a slightly doughy, slightly crispy pillow that is then the perfect canvas for a coat of powdered sugar.
What is the signature snack of Mardi Gras? ›
Beignets are an absolute New Orleans staple, and no visit to the city is complete without grabbing a plate at Cafe du Monde. Luckily, there's no travel necessary when you make beignets for your Mardi Gras party.
What are 3 traditional foods of Mardi Gras? ›
Try classic Mardi Gras recipes like shrimp étouffée, jambalaya, or red beans and rice, or fix something unexpected for a group of party guests like warm gumbo dip or cornbread hush puppies. No collection of Mardi Gras recipes would be complete without sweets.
What is the original Mardi Gras cake? ›
The king cake is a mixture of a French pastry and a coffee cake. Its oval shape and festive colors give it a unique appeal. The original version features the royal colors of gold, purple, and green. Gold represents power, purple represents justice, and green signifies faith.
What is the famous Mardi Gras king cake? ›
- Hi-Do Bakery's Cream Cheese king Cake. ...
- Dong PhuonG'S STRAWBERRY KING CAKE. ...
- MANNY Randazzo's Cream Cheese Filled King Cake + Traditional King Cake. ...
- Maurice's Traditional New Orleans King Cake, Bavarian Cream Filled. ...
- Joe's Cafe's Traditional King Cake & Cream Cheese Filled King Cake. ...
- Honorable King Cake Mentions.
Beignets were first introduced to the city by the French-Creole colonists in the 18th century. The concept is simple – dough is fried then covered with mounds of powdered sugar – but the result is extraordinary.
What is the most expensive dessert in New Orleans? ›
Arnaud's Restaurant
Most Expensive Dessert: For $3.95 million a true whale can purchase the Strawberries Arnaud (in a marinade of port, red wine, spices and citrus w/ vanilla ice cream) with a 7.09 carat pink diamond included from MS Rau antiques.
What do the French eat for Mardi Gras? ›
On Mardi Gras, the tradition is to eat pancakes. This tradition was to finish stocks of eggs and butter before the fasting period of lent. French people eat pancakes (crêpes), waffles (gaufres) and donuts (beignets).
What is the signature drink of Mardi Gras? ›
The Sazerac is the most popular co*cktail and the signature drink of the city of New Orleans. Cognac, whiskey, and absinthe combine to make this drink. It's one of the most popular Mardi Gras co*cktails and originated in New Orleans in the 1940s.
New Orleans-Style Beignets
Want to celebrate Mardi Gras from the comfort of your kitchen? Make beignets. Liberally dusted in confectioners' sugar, these pillowy deep-fried doughnuts will make you feel like you're at the famous Cafe du Monde in just one bite.
What are you supposed to eat on Fat Tuesday? ›
Depending on your tradition, religion, or culture, people enjoy a variety of foods on Fat Tuesday, including pancakes, king cake, jambalaya, or a crawfish boil.
What do Christians celebrate on Mardi Gras? ›
Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is traditionally celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the Christian season of Lent. Mardi Gras, which marks the end of the Carnival season, is a Christian holiday celebrated globally on the day before Lent commences.
What is the traditional dessert of Louisiana? ›
Beignets. Louisiana is so proud of this sweet pastry that in 1986 the legislature voted the beignet the official state donut. A simple treat made of a square piece of fried dough, the beignet has long been jump-starting French Quarter workers who head to Café Du Monde for an order of three and a side of café au lait.
What is the difference between king cake and Rosca de Reyes? ›
One of the key differences between Rosca de Reyes and a traditional King Cake is the type of pastry used. Rosca de Reyes is made with a sweet, buttery dough that is similar to brioche, while King Cake is made with a denser, richer dough that is more similar to a pastry.
What is the tradition of the Mardi Gras cake? ›
Whoever found the bean or trinket in his or her slice of cake would be crowned the king or queen of the balls leading up to the lavish finale on Mardi Gras. Rather than a bean or expensive ring, the plastic effigy is mostly used today as an emblem of good luck.
What is a famous Louisiana pastry? ›
Beignets were also brought to Louisiana by the Acadians. These were fried fritters, sometimes filled with fruit. Today, the beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar.
