Mardi Gras Tricolor Cake (Printable)
A moist vanilla cake layered with vibrant purple, green, and gold icing, perfect for festive occasions.
# What You’ll Need:
→ Cake
01 - 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
03 - ½ teaspoon salt
04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
05 - 2 cups granulated sugar
06 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
07 - 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
08 - 1 cup whole milk
→ Tricolor Icing
09 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
10 - 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - ¼ cup whole milk
12 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
13 - Pinch of salt
14 - Gel food coloring: purple, green, yellow (gold)
→ Decoration
15 - Colored sugar (purple, green, yellow)
16 - Mardi Gras beads or plastic baby (for traditional touch; not edible)
# Steps:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
03 - In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
05 - Alternately add flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined.
06 - Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Smooth tops. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
07 - Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
08 - Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat until fluffy.
09 - Divide icing into three bowls. Tint each bowl with a different color: purple, green, and yellow (gold). Mix until evenly colored.
10 - Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a layer of icing (any color) on top. Add the second cake layer.
11 - Frost the top and sides with alternating stripes or sections of the three colored icings. Decorate with colored sugar and optional Mardi Gras decorations.
12 - Chill cake for 30 minutes before serving for cleaner slices.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The vanilla cake base is incredibly moist and stays fresh for days, making it perfect for make ahead celebrations
- Those three colored frostings transform a simple cake into something that feels like a party on a plate
- It brings the spirit of New Orleans right into your kitchen without requiring any fancy techniques
02 -
- Room temperature ingredients are not optional here, cold butter or eggs will give you a dense, flat cake
- Over mixing the flour once you add it to the wet ingredients will make the cake tough, fold gently
- Chill the frosted cake for 30 minutes before slicing, otherwise the frosting will smear and you will lose those beautiful clean lines
03 -
- For the traditional King Cake experience, hide a small plastic baby inside after frosting, just warn your guests first
- If you want to skip the separate bowls, you can marble the colors by dropping dollops of each colored frosting randomly and swirling gently with a knife