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King Cakes
The king cake appears in New Orleans homes and offices throughout the Carnival season. This oval pastry ring evolved from a simple brioche dough sprinkled with sugar in Carnical colors to highly sweetened fruit or cream cheese-filled concoctions.
A small plastic “baby” is hidden in each cake; the person who eats the slice containing the “baby” must provide the next cake or give the next party. The baby is thought to represent the Christ Child adored by the Magi on Twelfth Night. Formerly made of porcelain, king cake babies arenow generally plastic.

The New orleans king cake is descended from the traditional Twelfth Night cake of southern France. Today, local bakeries make more than 750,000 king cakes, shipping about 85,000 t locations outside the city.