Maylee at Beyond Gumbo 
In Louisiana, the Mardi Gras carnival season (which lasts from the Epiphany on January 6 to Lent) brings a multitude of “King Cakes” pastries to bakeries and grocery stories. These oval-shaped sweet roll pastries are everywhere. I’m always on the lookout for the “best” king cake to copy and make at home. In recent years, the king cakes made by a Vietnamese bakery, Dong Phuong Bakery, in a suburb of New Orleans have become the darling of Mardi Gras foodies. Their king cakes have developed a cult following and I am told that you often have to stand in line several hours to secure one of these pastries at their local New Orleans East store. So, today I’m attempting to make a “copycat” king cake from the Dong Phuong Bakery. It takes some patience, but I have just made a damn good king cake. (My king cake is the one in the front and the bakery’s king cake is in the background.)
What is a King Cake?
You know when the Mardi Gras carnival season has arrived when “King Cakes” fill bakeries and grocery stores. The king cakes are available until “Fat Tuesday.” Wednesday or “Ash Wednesday” marks the beginning of Lent and is a day of fasting for Catholics in South Louisiana — no king cakes on Wednesday. The date varies each year and is on March 4, 2025, this year. A traditional “King Cake” is a sweet-roll type pastry baked in an oval shape and then iced and decorated with the Mardi Gras colors of purple, gold and green. Usually there is some type of filling — cinnamon, pecans, cream cheese or fruit fillings such as cherry, strawberry, lemon curd and blueberry — inside the jelly roll-type pastry. The oval King Cake tradition is an old French one and celebrates the coming of the three wise men (or kings) bearing gifts twelve days after Christmas. This French Catholic tradition is called it the Feast of the epiphany, Twelfth Night, King’s Day. This date represents the beginning of Mardi Gras celebrations. In our modern world, these popular confections are the center of any social gathering or office party; the king cakes are shipped nation-wide. We purchase the king cakes just to have at home. I’m always in search of the “best” king cake recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Although I didn’t intend to write out detailed instructions on how to make a king cake, somehow I got consumed in the process. So, I have provided a step-by-step guide for making my yeast sweet roll version. If you wish to follow along, the recipe is similar to making other yeast breads and sweet rolls. This recipe is an “overnight” sweet roll recipe, so plan to start a day in advance. Although the overnight step can be skipped, my instructions are for making a “real” Vietnamese-inspired pastry. Letting the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight helps develop a delicious bread flavor.
And, traditional King cakes are a yeast-type bread recipe. My recipe is gently kneaded (in the bowl) and the dough has three rising periods. It is a simple recipe, but it does take time to make. Yes, we’re in search of the best king cake!
Here is my king cake.
Dong Phuong’s Bakery and their Brioche-style King Cakes
There are so many great king cakes made by local and New Orleans bakeries that it is difficult to select one to feature. Everybody has their favorite king cake. I like to try new things, and in recent years the king cakes from Dong Phuong Bakery have become popular. I set out to learn about their bakery.
The Dong Phuong Bakery is a Vietnamese bakery located in New Orleans East which was founded by Vietnamese immigrants, De and Huong Tran, in 1982, after they fled the Vietnam War. The couple remembered the recipes from their family bakery in Vietnam. The couple offers traditional Vietnamese sandwiches such band mi, bao and baked goods such as moon pies and meat pies in their bakery and restaurant. When you remember that the French colonized Vietnam from the late 1800s until the mid-20th century, the impact and influence of the French on Vietnamese cuisine and baking makes sense in this family’s bakery.
The reputation of De and Huong Tran grew within the greater New Orleans community when the bakery and associated restaurant received the coveted “American Classic” James Beard Award in 2018 given by the James Beard Foundation. The award is given to “locally owned restaurants with timeless appeal and quality food that reflects the character of their community.” The bakery and restaurant serve the Vietnamese community with traditional and authentic foods that they have known and love. It is worth a trip to visit this establishment and enjoy Vietnamese culture and cuisine.
In 2008, De and Huong Tran added king cakes to their menu, making a few at a time in their kitchen. Although it took several years, eventually the king cakes proved to be quite popular. According to reports, the Dong Phuong Bakery now makes about 60,000 king cakes each season for in-person and on-line sales. However, online orders sell out every year, including this year. (You can still get the kings cakes by going to the bakery in person.)
The king cake pastries from Dong Phoung’s Bakery are a brioche-type dough with a cream cheese icing. They are light, tender and flavorful. And, they are unique. Delicious!
Brioche pastry has layers of butter folded (not kneaded) into the dough making it flaky and tender. It takes a lot of time and effort to do make brioche pastry. Here is the bakery’s king cake.
I made a modified-brioche pastry, so that I — along with folks following along at home — could successfully make this dough.
The Dong Phuong Bakery king cakes are shaped into a horseshoe (not an oval, ring or circle). They have slits cut along the edges and the king cake is topped with a cream cheese icing and colored sprinkles.
The king cakes are now shipped to Baton Rouge on Wednesdays to a local Vietnamese restaurant. I managed to get to the store early enough to purchase one.
For the bakery’s king cake, the dough is rolled up from both sides, like a scroll. This is placed face down on the baking sheet, with the cake formed into a horseshoe.
“Copycat” recipes provide my inspiration
While the bakery has not published their recipe, several bloggers and a Louisiana cuisine magazine have made “copycat” king cakes from Dong Phuong Bakery. My goal was to make a similar, but not identical, king cake. I used my basic sweet roll recipe as the starting point for making my king cake. The method of preparing, kneading and shaping the dough is what makes these king cakes quite unique. Plus, as previously mentioned, this is an overnight sweet roll recipe.
One of these copycat bloggers is a Vietnamese cook, Maria Do, of murmurs of ricotta internet blog site. I used some of her techniques, including her kneading technique. This surprise twist resulted in a tender and flavorful king cake.
King Cake Recipe
I am quite pleased and proud of my basic sweet roll recipe. I have made variations on these sweet rolls multiple times now and the recipe works like a charm. The recipe is actually quite simple. Just go for it.
This recipe does involve several small modifications in ingredients and technique to re-create the “Dong Phuong King Cake.” Their king cake is a fluffy, sweet cake — it is a brioche recipe. The adjustments are:
- ***Solid chunks of butter are folded into the dough making tender layers of pastry. Don’t melt the butter.
- ***I use all-purpose flour and not bread flour in the recipe.
- ***The dough is soft and “tacky.” You can’t knead it on a pastry board. In fact, there is not much kneading and very little gluten development in the copycat king cake dough. The dough is kneaded in the bowl.
- ***This is an overnight dough recipe which means that the dough rests in the refrigerator to “rise” overnight. So, plan ahead. (If needed, you can skip the overnight “rising” step, but the refrigerator rest just makes the king cake even better.)
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients in my king cake recipe. It is a variation on my sweet roll recipe which I posted on my January 16, 2025 blog post. This recipe uses Original Fleischmann’s® Active Dry Yeast and not instant, rapid-rise or quick-acting yeast. The recipe includes all-purpose flour and not bread flour. Ingredients also include sugar, salt, milk, eggs and butter as well as yeast. It is a “rich” sweet roll dough, very similar to a challah ingredient list. (The filling and icing ingredients are listed later in the post.)
Step by Step Guide to Making the King Cake Recipe
To mix up the yeast dough, I suggest using a food processor or electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. This dough is very soft and tacky. Using a heavy-duty food processor or electric mixer makes mixing the dough so much easier.
Here we go:
Step 1. Proof the yeast in warm milk heated to 110 degrees with a little tablespoon of sugar added. (I heat the milk/sugar, covered with a damp paper towel, in a large measuring cup in the microwave oven for one minute.) The yeast should bubble and foam after about five minutes. Otherwise, you have “bad” yeast. Simply start over. Check the expiration date to make sure you are not using old yeast. Check the temperature of the milk/sugar using an instant read thermometer to make sure the mixture is not too hot. Stir the milk/sugar in case it heated unevenly in the microwave oven. (This is a common problem.) My yeast had an expiration date of two years in the future — it really rocked and foamed!
An instant read thermometer is an inexpensive but indispensible gadget when making yeast bread. Checking the temperature of the milk is so important. Don’t kill the yeast with “too hot” milk.
Step 2. Add the dry ingredients — flour, remaining sugar and salt — to a large bowl of the electric mixer or food processor.
It is easy to use a rubber spatula to distribute the flour, sugar and salt evenly in the bowl of the food processor or mixer.
Step 3. Add in the foaming yeast and eggs (but not the butter).
Step 4. Process until well combined and the dough begins to pull away from the edges of the bowl. It will be very sticky and tacky.
Resist the temptation to add more flour. There really is enough flour in the recipe and as you work with the dough, this will become apparent.
Step 5. Add the butter, a small amount at a time, to make a “brioche” dough. Traditional brioche dough is made by carefully rolling the dough out and sneaking in butter bits, then re-rolling the dough. This is done over and over. The resulting pastry is flaky and tender. Yum. To make this dough in a food processor or electric mixer, add butter, one tablespoon at a time, down the chute and mix in. (Please don’t tell any classically trained French pastry chef that I am doing this technique using a food processor. I appreciate the fact that I’m taking short cuts — but I am trying to achieve a technique that a home cook can easily duplicate and master.)
This may seem like alot of butter, but it really is not more than the amount in many sweet roll recipes. Just go with the process here.
Step 6. Transfer the dough to a large, well-oiled bowl. The dough will still be very tacky.
With this recipe, the dough is not kneaded on a pastry board. Instead it is “kneaded” in the bowl. This technique was used by Vietnamese cook, Maria Do, in her You-Tube video and her blog. It was a new technique to me, but I am following the Vietnamese blogger.
Step 7. “Knead” the dough in the bowl by using a lifting and folding motion. Repeat this motion for 6 to 8 additional times.
Use your fingers and go around the edge of the bowl using a “lifting” and “folding” motion to knead the dough.
Step 8. Cover the dough and let it rise for 30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place. (I heated my oven to 180 degrees and then turned the oven off.) My dough almost doubled in 30 minutes. Wow, this yeast was potent. (Usually it takes 1 to 1-1/2 hour for dough to double in size.)
Here’s my dough before and after the 30 minute rising period in my warm oven (with the oven heat turned off!!)
Step 9. After 30 minutes, punch the dough down and repeat Step 7 for a second time. Yes, we’re going to “knead” the dough in the bowl again. (Do this step even if the dough has not doubled in size.) Use a lifting motion and move your hand around the bowl.
Step 10. Cover the bowl and dough rise (again for the second time) for 30 minutes.
Step 11. Punch the dough down; knead it a third time as in Steps 7 and 9.
Here is the dough after kneading a third time.
The dough is much less sticky and easy to handle. It is still “tacky” but the dough does not adhere to your fingers.
Step 12. Now, cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in refrigerate. Let it “rest” overnight overnight.
Step 13. The next morning, take the dough out of the refrigerator.
It will have doubled in size and then some more.
Step 14. Punch the dough down and let the bowl sit on kitchen counter for about half an hour to “activate” and warm up the yeast and dough.
Step 15. Mix up the filling while to dough comes up to temperature. Melt butter. Mix together dark brown sugar and cinnamon. Chop pecans. Set all these ingredients aside.
This filling is not cooked on the stove. It is a very simple mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Plus, butter is spread on the dough and pecans are sprinkled on, too.
Step 16. Now it is time to roll out the dough, add the filling and shape it. On a well floured board, roll the dough out into an 18″ x 10″ rectangle.
Here is a decision point time. You can either make one massive king cake; or divide the dough in half and make two smaller king cakes. For smaller king cakes, roll out to 16″ x 8″. The king cakes will be thinner but otherwise the same. Double both the filling and icing ingredients.
With some coaxing, the dough will stretch. Roll the dough; let it rest, then go back and roll further. Gently roll the dough out into a 18″ x 10″ rectangle.
Step 17. Add the cinnamon sugar and pecan filling. Spread on melted butter, next the brown sugar/cinnamon. Sprinkle on the pecans and press in.
Dark brown sugar, butter and pecans are the same flavors as are in praline candy. It is my favorite filling. (Pralines also include cream; not included in a king cake filling.)
Cream cheese and fruit-type fillings are popular. Vietnamese king cakes often use coconut-type fillings.
Step 18. Roll the dough up into a tight jelly roll.
Step 19. Shape the jelly roll into an oval shape and transfer the dough over to a large oiled baking sheet, seam side down.
Bring the exposed ends together and seal together.
Traditional king cakes will be shaped like a large ring with a hole in the middle. This one doesn’t have a center “hole.”
Step 20. Cut 1″ slits at 2 ” intervals around the edges. This is another technique of Dong Phuong’s Bakery. It is done to compensate for the lack of a center hole and to allow for more even baking.
Step 21. Lightly cover with oiled plastic wrap and let the pastry rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Step 22. Whew. Time to bake in a 350 degree oven.
After baking, let the king cake cool to room temperature on the kitchen counter.
Step 23. Just a couple more steps…..make the icing. Dong Phuong’s cakes are iced with a cream cheese icing. Here are the ingredients for my cream cheese icing recipe.
Get the cream cheese and butter out of the refrigerator ahead of time so that they can soften. When you are ready to make the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy either by hand or with an electric mixer. Then mix in powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Add small amounts of milk to thin the icing, as needed.
Step 24. Transfer the king cake to a serving platter. Spread the cream cheese icing on the cooled king cake.
Step 25. Decorate the cake with Mardi Gras colored sugar sprinkles — green, gold and purple colors.
Sanding sugar works great. So do colored sprinkles. Although you can make your own colored sugar; using purchased sanding sugar or sprinkles is much easier.
Sprinkle the sugars on top of the icing in a decorative pattern.
Step 26. Traditionally, a tiny plastic baby is hidden somewhere in the cake. Whomever gets the piece of king cake containing the baby brings the next king cake to the next gathering.
In general, contemporary bakeries put the baby on top of the king cake (rather than inside the pastry) and let the purchaser hide the plastic doll, if they wish.
Step 28. We’re finish. Proudly slice, serve and share with family and friends.
There are many so many king cakes available in bakeries and recipes for making these pastries at home. If you live outside of Louisiana, it is easy to get a king cake shipped to you — usually along with a packet of beads and a plastic baby. However, making you own king cake pastry is special.
The King Cakes made by Dong Phuong’s Bakery are delicious. However, so are ones made with my recipe.
I am proud of my king cake and recipe. It ranks up there with the best bakeries. The praline-type filling of flavorful dark brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans is especially delicious. The cream cheese icing is not too, too sweet and balances the sweet rolls perfectly. Enjoy!
King Cake with Praline Filling and Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients for Praline Pecan Filling:
- 1 cup pecan pieces, finally chopped
- 4 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Icing:
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature for several hours
- 4 Tbsp butter, softened at room temperature for several hours
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp milk, plus 1 – 2 tsp additional. as needed
Ingredients for Sweet Rolls:
- oil, for oiling bowls and baking sheet
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 Tbsp
- 1 (0.25 oz) package active dry yeast (I used Fleischmann’s® brand yeast)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 8 Tbsp butter
- 1 recipe Praline Filling (or two recipes, if making smaller king cakes)
- 1 recipe Cream Cheese Icing (or two recipes, if making two smaller king cakes)
- purple, green and gold dusting sugar or colored sugar sprinkles
- plastic baby (or substitute a dried bean, such as a dried kidney bean)
Method and Steps for Praline Pecan Filling:
- Coarsely chop pecans. Set aside.
- Melt butter in microwave by heating on high temp in a small, covered bowl for about 30 seconds. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. (Don’t stir in the melted butter.)
- Set aside until ready to use.
Method and Steps for Cream Cheese Icing:
- Make sure cream cheese and butter are soft by letting set at room temperature for several hours.
- Combine cream cheese and butter in a small bowl. Use either an electric mixer or a cook’s spoon (to whisk by hand) to beat until the cream cheese/butter are soft and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat to combine.
- Beat in 1 tablespoon of milk thin. Add an additional 1 – 2 tsp milk, as needed, one tsp at a time.
Method and Steps for Sweet Rolls:
- Heat milk and 1 Tbsp sugar in microwave oven until 110 degrees. To accomplish this, place milk and sugar in a measuring cup or small bowl. Cover with damp paper towels. Heat for approximately 30 seconds in microwave oven. Remove from microwave oven and stir. Check temperature with instant read thermometer. If not hot enough, microwave for several more seconds. If too hot, let set on kitchen counter until 110 degrees.
- When milk/sugar is heated, sprinkle dry instant yeast on top of milk. Do not stir. Let milk set for 5 minutes. Milk should begin to bubble and foam.
- Add all-purpose flour, salt and remaining 1/3 cup sugar to large bowl of food processor fitted with dough attachment or an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Pulse to combine ingredients. (Scrape down with rubber spatula, if needed.)
- Add milk/sugar/yeast mixture to dry ingredients in food processor.
- Add in large eggs.
- Using continuous mode, mix for about 30 seconds until all ingredients are blended together. Stir down sides of food processor bowl with rubber spatula, if needed. Mixture will start to pull away of edges of food processor or electric mixer but will will still be tacky and spongy.
- Cut butter into chunks. Add butter down the food processor chute, one piece at a time. Pulse with on and off motions until butter is mixed in. Continue until all butter is added to the dough.
- Generously oil a glass or ceramic bowl which is large enough so that dough can double in size. Add dough and turn so that dough is completely covered with oil.
- Use your hand and gently knead the dough in the bowl. Use lifting motions and to lift the dough up and to the center. Go around edges of bowl to gently “knead” the dough about six to eight times.
- Cover with plastic wrap. Set dough in a warm place so it can rise. (I pre-heat oven to 180 degrees and then turn oven heat off.)
- After 30 minutes, remove the plastic wrap from the dough and punch down. (I probably will not be doubled in size.)
- Knead the dough in the bowl again, using the same lifting motions for six to eight times.
- Cover with plastic wrap. Set dough in a warm place and let rise for a second time.
- After 30 minutes, remove plastic wrap and punch down. “Knead” for a third time.
- Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap and set in refrigerator to let rise overnight.
- The next day, the dough should be doubled in size. When ready to finish the king cake, remove plastic wrap and punch down. Let set on counter for 30 minutes to “warm” up.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured pastry board. Plan to make either one large king cake, or alternatively, divide dough in half to make two smaller king cakes. In this cake, double the ingredients for the filling and icing. Use the same process for each king cake.
- Using a rolling pin, gently roll out into a 18″ x 10″ rectangle. (For two smaller king cakes, roll to 16″ x 8″.) The dough is stretchy. Roll in several sessions, letting dough rest for a minute or two at a time until it can be rolled into a rectangle shape. (The two smaller king cakes will be thinner.)
- Make sure the filling ingredients are ready. This includes melting 2 Tbsp butter. Spread melted butter over dough. Leave a 1″ border along the top, long edge of the dough.
- Spread on the dark brown sugar/cinnamon evenly over the dough rectangle, leaving a 1″ border at the top edge.
- Sprinkle on the chopped pecans, pressing them into the dough.
- Roll dough up into jelly roll. With fingers, pinch top edges closed.
- Oil a large rimmed baking sheet (or two baking sheets for two king cakes).
- Carefully transfer jelly roll to the baking sheet, seam side down. Shape into an oval (however, do not make a hole in the center). Bring the exposed ends together and seal the dough together to make a complete oval.
- Using a knife, cut slits, at an angle, at 2″ intervals around the king cake. Make the cuts about 1″ deep.
- Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Place the baking sheet(s) back into the warm oven (or other warm location) and let the king cake(s) rise for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. (I let the rolls set on the kitchen counter while the oven heats up.)
- After the hour, remove plastic wrap. Transfer to the pre-heated oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let cool enough until easily handled. Transfer the king cake(s) to serving platters.
- Let cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, make sure the cream cheese icing is prepared.
- When cooled, spread the cream cheese icing over the king cake.
- Sprinkle on purple, green and gold dusting sugar (or colored sprinkles) over the king cake in a decorative pattern.
- If desired, hide a plastic baby (or a dried bean such as a dried kidney bean) inside the king cake.
- Cut and serve.
Referenes:
I’ve always thought the hiding the baby part was rather weird!
Yes, it is a bit unusual; best just to go with the flow of things. It all relates to the old traditions of secret “krewes” or organizations who selected “royalty” with courts, pageants, balls, parades that are part of Mardi Gras season.
It’s quite a season for traditions!
My coworker calls in “a dead baby”, and thinks it’s weird, too. I told her it’s supposed to be Baby Jesus, but that apparently didn’t make her feel and different!
Getting the baby also means luck and prosperity!
Nope, the idea of sticking baby Jesus in a cake is pretty wild!
Well, some countries use a fave bean in the king cake to represent luck; if you don’t like the baby doll. But it all goes back to the Catholic traditions and the Epipthany and the Christ child; at one time this was a very religious tradition — and probably a pagan one in the Middle Ages. Honestly, today the connection to religion has been lost; now it is just a fun time and I bet most folks don’t even know the meaning of the plastic baby. So, you are quite educated now.
Thank you! I have heard about the bean, maybe a bid chunk of chocolate would be better!
A piece of chocolate is a great idea to replace the doll! One of the “newer” variety of king cakes is to ice the sweet roll with chocolate and coconut! Your idea fits right in.
There is a tradition of putting fèves (“beans” in King Cakes
https://en.m.wikip
edia.org/wiki/F%C3%A8ve
Haven’t seen those, but it sounds great!
Another bit of trivia; and totally unrelated to King Cakes — the Zulu Social Society is the oldest predominately African-American society that sponsors one of the large parades on Mardi Gras Day or “Fat Tuesday.” They traditionally throw decorated coconuts to the crowd. If you catch one of those, it is mighty special. So, more recently, King Cakes decorated with coconut and chocolate are sometimes labeled “Zulu” King Cakes in bakeries. Decorating a King Cake with chocolate is a very recent trend. However, the Vietnamese Bakery uses coconut as one of their fillings; and coconut is a common ingredient in Asian cuisine.
That’s wild Maylee! I wonder how many folks get kinked by the flying coconuts!
It has been a number of years since I’ve been to a Zulu parade; I think these flying coconuts are pretty targeted towards specific folks in the crowd; if you are one of the lucky ones. I somewhere have a treasured doubloon from the “Captain” of the krewe; but guess it isn’t treasured if I can’t find it! Mardi Gras is just a great big party for those of us “tourists”; Going once every few years is plenty!
Absolutely gorgeous, Maylee!! My mouth is watering, imagining that pillowy dough and sweet, nutty filling. Terrific instructions for making one at home, too. I’ve read about the plastic baby in the cakes, but my bet is the bakeries don’t want to get sued if someone breaks a tooth. 😂
Hello, yes, I am enjoying several King Cakes this year and am so glad my baking of yeast rolls is finally coming together. I agree with you about the bakeries real reasons for not hiding the plastic doll — probably justified! (I has a stash of dolls if you ever need one!!)
The babies used to be porcelain, and they would have been more likely to break a tooth than a plastic one! Of course, you can’t bake a plastic doll into a cake so you have to wait until the cake has been baked and is cool. Then you shove it into the underside of the cake, waiting for the unsuspecting guest.
Is there a closer recipe to OG? I mean copycat means as close to identical as possible. I’ve tried all these copycat recipes and they dont come close to the real thing. The real thing is very flat, maybe an inch or inch and a half tall. The crumb is airy and dense at the same time. The texture is almost raw tasting, but its fully cooked. DP must have a lamination machine like the kind used for making croissants. And every time I put in a filling in it, it ozzes out during baking. I wish they made king cakes year around.
I don’t have access to this bakery’s king cake process — I did give it my best “shot” and I am very proud of my own results and recipe. With the huge volume of king cakes that this bakery makes and sells on-line; I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some time-saving techniques; as their recipe is like a croissant. I do like my “praline” filling the best; it doesn’t “ooze”out; I press the pecans into the dough which helps. If making a filling such as blueberry, I stop the filling several inches from the top edge; that helps, too. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Rolling the dough flatter helps make a thinner king cake, too, if that’s your preference. I hope you enjoy my King Cake recipe. Especially, don’t skip the cream cheese icing — that’s the other “knock-out” part of this recipe. Happy Baking!