Traditionally, king cake fillings of the French tradition consisted of frangipane or candied fruits.  

In the early 1970s, Paul’s Pastry Shop in Picayune, Mississippi began filling king cakes with an assortment of fruits and cream cheese creating a new tradition of king cake. More contemporary king cake fillings, especially found in the Gulf Coast region, are now up to the imagination of the baker. Many of these king cakes can be filled with apples, strawberries, praline cream, cream cheese, or chocolate.