Christmas is over and Twelfth Night has past. That means it must be Mardi Gras season! King Cake is an integral part of every good Mardi Gras celebration and even if we can’t be in Louisiana for the festivities we can certainly eat like it! Our king cake was filled with a layer of cream cheese and a mixed berry jam made from strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Like any traditional king cake, it was iced and then coated in purple, gold and green sugar. My was it delicious.

Our King Cake, naked for the world to seeA: ho, ho, ho! haaaappy mardi gras season! you’re from louisiana, T. what does one say when celebrating mardi gras?
T: Well, you can start by screaming loudly. No words are necessary in this case. If you’re at a parade somewhere in Louisiana or perhaps elsewhere on the gulf coast you might scream “Throw me something, mister!” And, everybody’s favorite, if you’re on Bourbon Street, it is customary to yell, “show us your tits!”
A: hmmm… what if i yell, “show us your king cake!!!” instead? think that’ll work. after attending the Zulu parade i got scared to scream “throw me something, mister” due to the real coconuts they were chucking into the crowd.

Dripping with goodnessT: yeah, flying coconuts are dangerous…. but hey- survival of the fittest. If you can’t dodge large flying objects you’re going to have a tough life. Ahhhh… seriously, though. It’s a great idea to yell “Show us your king cake!” Have you had king cake this year? Email us at whatwereeating.com with a link or a photo and we will include it on the site
A: that’s a great idea! for some reason i feel like king cake is a very regional food, but i’m definitely interested in seeing what’s out there.
T: most people in the food blog world don’t even know what king cake is, which is strange to me having grown up with it. If you don’t know what it is, here’s how I would describe King Cake: it’s a big cinnamon roll, optionally filled with fruit and/or cream cheese, and coated with brightly colored (purple, gold, and green) icing. It’s always made in the shape of a ring. Amanda, would you say that’s about right?
A: yup, except the filled king cakes don’t always have cinnamon. generally all of the unfilled ones are like big cinnamon rolls and the filled ones are like huge ass danishes. this one was particularly danish-like.

Mardi Gras in your mouthT: yes it was. So, King Cakes are served between Christmas and the start of Lent (aka Mardi Gras season). Inside each king cake is a little plastic baby, about the size of a lima bean. If you’re lucky enough to get the baby in your piece, you’re expected to supply the next cake. You may also need expensive dental work, depending on how you discover that you actually have the baby.
A: ha! lucky enough! i definitely think it’s unlucky! a poor girl can’t always afford to buy a cake. out here i get particularly screwed on this end of the bargain because you can’t go to any old grocery store or bakery and pick on up on the way home! thus if we want another one, i get to make it again!
T: is that why this king cake didn’t have a baby? You gave it a hysterectomy so you wouldn’t have to make another one?
A: nope, no hysterectomies here! i just didn’t have a baby! and i only had small dried beans. for some reason it didn’t really seem like a good idea to put a lentil in the cake and hope someone found it before digesting it raw!
T: yeah, that wouldn’t be good. I thought maybe it would be a good idea to put a penny in the king cake, but then I thought, no, not a good idea. Oh well, king cakes without babies are still king cakes.
A: so, what’d you think of this particular king cake?
T: I thought it was great. I really loved the fruit and cream cheese filling, and I thought there was a good ratio of filling to bread (which seems to not always be the case with King Cakes). It was moist, delicious. I give it a 4.7/5. Compared to all the other King Cakes I’ve had, it was very very good. Waaay better than 99% of the grocery store king cakes that I’ve had. I thought it was comparable to some of the better ones that I’ve had from actual bakeries in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and New Orleans.
A: I know some new orleanian is going to roll up on to this site and say something about how it can’t possibly be as good as Mckenzie’s king cakes. they’re renowned for being the best. I thought this one was pretty good too. I give it a 4.25/5. I was a little disappointed that it didn’t turn out as good as the one i made last year, but thems the breaks, kid. it was still damn good.
T: for someone who doesn’t love sweets as much as the average joe, and for someone who didn’t live in Louisiana for too long, you make an excellent King Cake. Now if you can just impregnate the next one it will be perfect.
A: heheh thanks, T! hmmm, i’ll agree to impregnate the next one on one condition: you have to make the one after that if you get the baby!
T: ok but you might regret that!

Recipes in this post:

• Mixed Berry & Cream Cheese King Cake

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A long time ago in a month far far away we ate a king cake. (February, to be precise) This king cake was homemade and filled with cinnamon cream cheese goodness, with a lima bean for the baby.

T: we went into a blogger’s black hole there for a little while. Heheh, now we’re back and talking about a king cake that you made in February.
A: if by black hole you mean black hole of family visiting. does that make sense? anytime we have visitors we seem to be distracted from the bliznog.
T: yeah, it’s hard to blog with company over. house guests tend to get angry when we do use the computers.
A: not to mention they like to eat out and at weird un-sunlit hours.
T: that’s true, we’ve been eating out for nearly a week. I can’t wait until we eat some more Mandy food.
A: now tyler don’t make me slap you for that mandy crap! you know hommie don’t play that.
T: what, I was just talking about how awesome your cooking is!
A: the message seemed to get blocked by the word mandy – which consumed my mind negatively.
T: How bout if I call you Mandi and place the accent on the second syllable? Mandi. Eh? Sounds european.
A: heheheh still not workin’ for me, T! how about amanda? how’s that sound?
T: that sounds played out. How bout Mandita? It’s like a little Mandy.
A: or even a little manda… mandita’s not as bad as mandy.
T: how bout Mandisima! That’s like “very Mandy” or something.
A: woah woah woah, dog! all this mandy has made me forget about the king cake we are trying to blog from ages ago! what did i put in the middle? i think it was like a cinnamon-cream cheese filling or something.
T: Yeah, I think that’s right. I remember being very impressed at how good it was. I believe my mom said it was the best King cake she had ever had. It was moist, delicious. It was competitive with any king cake. It was possibly the best king cake in Socal last year, although we really have no way of knowing that.
A: perhaps it was even the only king cake in Socal last year! i don’t think they do king cakes around here…but you’re mom has lived in south-east louisiana for her entire life (until last year) so her words are praise enough for me!
T: Hey, how about me? I’ve lived in south Louisiana for 24 years myself. Doesn’t my opinion count for anything?
A: yeah yeah yeah… i suppose it does! but only because it’s a positive opinion! (kidding!)
T: I will rate the king cake whether you care about my opinion or not! In this case it happens to be positive, but don’t forget who is rating your dishes! Mu Hah. Be careful Mandisima for I hold great power. mu hah hah. moo. muhahahahha. Umm… I rate the king cake a 4.6/5. It was so danged good I wish king cake were in season right now.
A: heheheh btw, i do care about your opinion, crazy boy!
T: I know
A: and i’m happy it’s a good opinion. I do remember this king cake in a very positive light. I give this king cake in retrospect a 4.5/5. I wish we had been back to blogging when we originally ate it, but hey! what’s better than a little mardi gras in July? they have christmas in July!
T: Yeah, sickos have christmas in July.
A: cheap mofos have christmas in July! and marketing people who want to make consumers buy more!
T: Damned christmas in July. I won’t stand for it. This conversation is over.

Kwaherini mabibi na mabwana.

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