Food

King Cake

Mardi Gras was a while ago now, but back when it was in the future, we had a Joe Cain Day party and I made one of these:

king cake

It was REALLY good. I used half a recipe of brioche dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (recipe available here), and the kneading and shaping techniques from their website (here). But people, their moderately iced cake looks nothing like a King Cake. And I wasn’t so into what sounded like a subtle citrus flavored bread, instead of a filled cake, a giant cinnamon roll or cream cheese danish, so I used the filling recipe here. The only problem is that when you fill this dough, roll it up and bake, the crust tends to break and your filling is exposed. Maybe I should try a braid next time? Seems like too much work. Anyway, the frosting covers it up. I don’t remember how I made the frosting, I think it was 4 oz cream cheese, 1/4 (or 1/2?) cup powdered sugar, zest and juice of one lemon. May have been a few tablespoons butter in there, too. Drizzle on and cover with sprinkles.

What else did we have? Red beans and rice, of course. I used Emeril’s recipe, using garlic pork sausage instead of smoked because I haven’t really been able to find that here, and the cheapest white rice, which I think is important to the dish.

And hurricanes! Using this recipe as a starting point. I used a passion fruit juice mixer instead of syrup (found in the mixers section of the liquor store) and ended up adding some orange, lime and a touch of pomegranate juice. It was also REALLY good.

Speaking of rum, I need to share a story here. I was in the beer/liquor aisle at Safeway and an old man saw me looking at beers. He gestured to his six pack of Budweiser saying, “This is a good beer!” Me, chuckling: “I’m looking for my dad so I might end up with Budweiser!” A few minutes later he came over to me with a bottle of Meyer’s Rum in his hand, explaining, “This is the best rum. My son brings it back from Cuba but there it is only about $8.”

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  • Susan Clifton

    March 8, 2015 at 1:51 pm | Reply

    Your King Cake looks great, and the party sounds perfect. The old guy was right about the Meyer’s Rum. Don’t mix it with anything, though. On ice with a twist of lemon.

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