Pauls pastry Shop Picayune Mississippi Mardi Gras King Cakes

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1 Sycamore Road, Sweet A / Picayune, MS 39466 / Call Toll Free 1-800-669-5180

History of the King Cake

In European countries, the coming of the wise men bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. The celebration, called Epiphany, Little Christmas or the Twelfth Night, is a time of exchanging gifts and feasting.

All over the world people gather for festive twelfth night celebrations. One of the most popular customs is still the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings..."a King's Cake."

The Europeans hide a bean inside their cake and the person receiving the bean must portray one of the kings. Latin-American people put a small figure inside the cake representing the Christ Child. It is said that the year of good fortune awaits the lucky person who gets the figure.

The residents of Louisiana and Mississippi & Alabama Gulf Coast like the idea of perpetuating the celebration by having the person who received the baby continue the festivities with another party and another cake. Starting the twelfth day after Christmas, King Cake Parties continue until the first day of Lent, ending on Fat Tuesday... Mardi Gras Day!

King cakes were originally a simple ring of dough with little decorations. They are now in three colors: GREEN - Representing Faith; PURPLE - Representing Justice, and GOLD - Representing the Voice of Power. In the early 1970's, Paul's Pastry Shop located in Picayune, Mississippi, began filling the King Cakes with an assortment of Fruits and Cream Cheese, then topping them with the brightly colored Mardi Gras sugars and sliced almonds... thus beginning a new tradition of the Mardi Gras King Cake. Our customers not only have the choice of the traditional cinnamon king cake, but also an exotic, deliciously filled King Cake with your choice of up to four flavors in the same cake.

Thousands of king cakes are consumed at parties every year in Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A cultural gumbo of European tradition, pagan celebration and religious doctrine, spiced with more than a dash of local flavor, today's Mardi Gras has evolved as an American phenomenon unique to the Gulf Coast region. Here at Paul's Pastry Shop in Picayune, MS, we wish to continue the Mardi Gras tradition making a quality product for our customers to enjoy.