Gluten-Free King Cake Recipe (2024)

I’ve only been to Louisiana as an adult once and I found New Orleans to be such an awesome place. Back about 3 years ago I traveled to the Bayou State for a party and got to visit some pretty nifty things. The French Quarter had some really neat shops and entertainment along its sidewalks, though I did very often seem to catch a whiff of pee, which seemed weird to me, but I was told this lingering odor was very likely from revelry the night before, something Bourbon Street, in particular, is apparently known for. I got to ride on a streetcar which on the downside was bumpy and hot but on the upside was also very interesting. The Audobon Zoo was a lovely little gem of a place and the New Orleans City Park a spot that I especially loved because of all of the moss-filled trees, so lovely! And there was so much more I wanted to do and I anticipated visiting frequently to be able to do them. I tried to plan a trip several times, but it turned out me and my nephews were the only ones interested in having a visit and we always got vetoed and hit up San Antonio every summer, instead. Maybe I’ll take them to NOLA in 2019 now that there is no reason not to! :)

The cuisine in New Orleans looked to be amazing, but being Celiac and therefore gluten-free meant I got to watch others tuck into amazing looking po’ boys and Cajun and Creole food but didn’t actually get to partake myself. And oh, I really wished I could have tried one of those beignets… they looked like little powdered sugar covered pillows of heaven! And I should know because when the crowd got hungry we went for the others to get them several times and I just got to breathe in the lovely scent, smile and say “oh, I’m not hungry” over and over again. On the last day, however, I did get to visit a bakery featuring lots of gluten-free items and I headed back home with a box of totally GF baked goods on my lap, something that was a really pleasing thing to do, though. Ooh, and on the drive back home, there was also a seafood restaurant where I got to have fried shrimp for the first time in AGES because they only use cornmeal and that was SUPER AMAZING. I just wish I could remember these lovely little places names!

When I was a kid my dad had lots of business in Louisiana as he worked in the petroleum industry. He’d be sent gifts from Cajun colleagues like crawfish stuffed turkeys at Thanksgiving, turduckens at Christmas and then King Cakes would make their way onto the kitchen island in the weeks before Easter. And those king cakes always were especially pleasing when I was young… all of that colorful sugar on top? The baby inside? Who were these Louisiana geniuses, anyway? (pssst – it turns out they were French geniuses as this is a French custom brought to U.S. soil in 1870!)

Today I am spectacularly pleased to share with you an amazing recipe for a GF spin… the GLUTEN-FREE King Cake. (What an Epiphany, haha! :) And today we’re going to be sharing lots of photos because, though it’s called a cake, it seems more like a coffee-cake and pastry cross that utilizes dough rather than cake batter and if you aren’t familiar with the treat, these photos might better help you understand this fun little “cake”.

Gluten-Free King Cake Recipe

This recipe yields 12 mini bundt cakes.

Cake ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 4 ½ cups gluten-free baking flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 packet rapid-rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoonscinnamon

Glaze ingredients:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

Additional Items Needed:

• Mini Bundt Cake Pan
• Purple, green, and yellow sanding sugar (this set also comes with a little plastic baby!)

Gluten-free King Cake Instructions:

Make the Dough:

1. Whisk the milk, eggs, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Stir with a spoon until just combined.
3. Using the dough hook, mix the dough with an electric mixer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the stand mixer bowl and transfer to a greased bowl. Cover with plastic and allow to rise for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Add the Filling:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix to combine.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle until dough is around ¼ inch thick.
4. Spray the dough lightly with water and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture all over the dough, pressing it into the dough with your fingers to ensure it sticks.
5. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise. Then cut the dough horizontally into 2-inch strips.
6. Roll each strip lengthwise, then form a circle with the rolled dough and seal the ends together. Place each roll into the basin of a greased mini Bundt cake pan with the seam of the roll facing up. Continue rolling each strip until each space is filled.
7. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the mini king cakes are a deep golden brown.
8. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the Glaze:

1. While the cakes are cooling, place the powdered sugar and milk in a bowl.
2. Whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
3. Spoon the glaze over the top of each cake. Immediately sprinkle purple, green, and yellow sanding sugar on top of the cake.

And there you have it! Though there are quite a few steps, I’m positive that this is one of those recipes that is worth all of the effort. And I bet yours will love this gluten-free spin on the classic!