
As a New Orleans native, I take King Cake seriously! King Cakes have been a Louisiana tradition since it was a French colony. Most king cakes are made from a rich yeast dough that is shaped into a ring.
The dough usually has a cinnamon, cream cheese and/or fruit filling and a tiny ceramic, bean or baby figurine representing Jesus is placed in the finished cake. The person who gets the slice of cake hiding the baby is the “king” for the day and can expect good luck in the new year!
Despite their popularity, a poorly executed king cake is too sweet and dry. On the other hand, a good cake will have you wanting a piece for breakfast and dessert to Lent and beyond! Louisiana king cakes are very similar to cinnamon roll dough that is shaped into a ring as opposed to cutting into discs.
Since my favorite cinnamon rolls are made from sourdough discard it was a no-brainer to create a sourdough discard king cake! The subtle tanginess the discard gives the dough is a perfect balance to the sweet and creamy filling.
There are some key differences between my sourdough discard king cake recipe and a traditional New Orleans style king cake. The first difference is the filling. I make a cinnamon cream cheese spread that fills the entire spiral as opposed to a single tube of cream cheese.
Secondly, I try to use whole foods and reduce added sugar. I sweeten the king cake dough and icing with raw, unfiltered honey and use greek yogurt for a dose of protein and probiotics. However, I think these changes make for a moist, flavorful and full-bodied dessert! I hope it is a hit for you this Mardi Gras season!

Ingredients for Sourdough King Cake
Dough
- 1 cup warmed milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 sourdough starter discard
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing
- 2/3 cup plain greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp milk
- Optional: purple, green and gold decorating sugar
How to Make Sourdough Discard King Cake
In an enameled dutch oven or stove-top safe bowl or pan, slowly warm the milk over low heat. Add the honey and mix until fully combined. I use raw unfiltered honey which is thick and takes some stirring to fully dissolve in the warm milk.
Add the sourdough discard, salt, and vanilla and stir to combine.
Stir in the whisked eggs and butter. I like to mix with a wooden fork or whisk until the butter breaks up into pieces almond-sized or smaller. An electric hand mixer is great for this step, but don’t over mix (and don’t use an electric mixer if you’re using a ceramic or nonstick pan)!
Add in the flour 1 cup at a time, folding to incorporate.




Once the dough is fully combined, but shaggy in appearance, turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough until it begins springing into a smooth ball shape. Return it to the mixing bowl or place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap for 1 hour.
At the end of one hour, stretch and fold the dough in the bowl 4-6 times. I grab one part of the dough and pull it so it partially lifts out of the bowl and then fold it over the top of the dough ball. I then grab a part of the dough next to the fold and stretch it out of the bowl and fold over. I continue until the dough resists stretching (usually 4-6 stretches). Recover.

Repeat the stretch and folds twice more, 30-60 minutes apart.
Allow the dough to ferment for at least 1 hour after the last stretch and fold session, but I recommend waiting at least 4-6 hours (or even overnight in the fridge). The longer you wait, the deeper the flavor and better the texture of the cake. The dough is usually not at risk of over-proofing unless your discard was still active and your kitchen is warm.
When you are ready to bake your cake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine the filling ingredients in a medium bowl until fully smooth. This can take a second if the cream cheese is not fully softened.
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into two equal portions. Roll each portion into a rectangle that is 1/2-3/4 inch thick. I prefer these rectangles to be elongated to give me plenty of length to work into a ring.


Use a spatula to spread the filling evenly over the surface of the two rectangles. Leave one of the long edges bare to be used to seal the dough after rolling.
Roll the dough on itself starting from the long edge that is covered with filling. Press the seam to seal once completely rolled up. Sometimes I use a wet finger to work the seam together. Repeat with the second dough rectangle.


Wrap the two dough tubes around each other. Stretch the braid into a ring and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Fuse the ends of the tubes together with your fingers. If the dough has ripped anywhere, try to seal it or cover with extra dough from the seam. Ball up some aluminum foil and place in the center of the ring to maintain the space during baking.


Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature is 190-200 degrees F. In my oven the king cake is usually done right at 35 minutes.

Allow the King Cake to cool for 30-60 minutes before icing. While the cake cools, combine the icing ingredients (yogurt, honey, milk) in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.



Drizzle the icing over the cake. The icing should have a medium viscosity where it flows, but is not runny.
Optional: sprinkle the colored sugar over the icing. Fun fact: the traditional Mardi Gras colors were chosen in the late 1800’s by the Krewe of Rex. Purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power.


More Sourdough Discard Recipes
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We are happy to share our collection of “Old Fashioned Cravings” with you! This is our collection of family recipes that we have to collected, modified and created over the years. Our favorite meals are comfort foods tweaked to be a little bit healthier! We hope you enjoy the content and we would love to hear your favorites and suggestions!