Tuesday, February 2, 2021

King Cake


I don’t know if you recall my previous post about wedding cake but I mentioned that I love king cake. Now I know I say this a lot and I’ve had a lot of people tell me “oh my God I love king cake too” but when I say I love king cake I mean I literally eat king cake three times a day every day until all the stores I know stop selling it during Mardi Gras season. And this is only because my parents decided to put me on a king cake diet of sorts because I was literally eating an entire king cake a day. I don’t like to brag but this was after I managed to eat 2 1/2 king cakes one day.

To explain my love of king cakes I must first start with the symbolism of the king cake. So many cultures have created their own version of what king cake symbolize in Catholic school I was told that it represented the birth of Jesus Christ: The colors representing the three gifts he received. Then once I was told that the colors of the king cake represented the general spirit of Mardi Gras with the colors symbolizing highlights throughout the entire carnival season. The entire beauty of the king cake being analyzed and adopted into numerous cultures is one of the reasons I love the cake.

I also love king cake because of the flavor. Cinnamon has always been a flavor that I adore. The icing with the cinnamon of the king cake that makes it kind of like a cinnamon bun but not exactly like it because it’s not as dry literally is a dream come true in my mind.

Lastly of course I love king cake because I love Mardi Gras and I’m from New Orleans and if you hate Mardi Gras or king cake then you are not allowed to call yourself a New Orleanean.

Also another mini tangent having tried all the king cakes New Orleans has made, and proudly considering myself a connoisseur of king cakes. I have made it a personal sport to try any new king cakes that come out that year or any family recipes so please give me any suggestions as I have literally eaten all the King cake recipes that I know of, the major king cake bakeries and the minor ones, and I would love to make sure that I’ve tried them all so I can see my next statement with 100% confidence. The best king cake is from Antoines or or Randazzo‘s. Yes you can say the king cake from Hi Do bakery is good or the king cake from Rouses is good, but that is a lie.

A long winded in very confusing way of saying that I love king cake and I will be eating some every day this week three times a day.

Happy Mardi Gras

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Ryn! I looooove King Cake too! I also have a King Cake addiction and have trouble eating it fewer than 3 times a day. My favorite King Cake is from Gambino's. I know that that's an unpopular opinion haha, but it's truly my delicious. If you haven't tried it, you definitely should! You'll be glad you did :) and maybe it will even change your mind about which King Cake is the best!
Love from
Clara

Unknown said...

Though I don't have an addiction, I do find it hard to pass up any King Cake. My favorite King Cake is a homemade King Cake that Ms. Carroll at my church makes every year for the first Sunday after Epiphany. She makes a giant cinnamon bun that is caked in colored sugar, and it is really just bread with cinnamon sugar. I think I love it so much because it is the start of a tradition that we carry out every year. It is also always fresh and warm, so it is practically impossible to turn away. It was disappointing that we couldn't do that this year.

Unknown said...

Hey Deryn! I have been getting really into king cake this year. Some years I'm not a big fan; it just depends on what king cake is available for me to munch on. I'm not so much a fan of the dry ones with a lot of icing. However, I recently discovered the Dong Phuong king cakes, and they are AMAZING. They are from this Vietnamese bakery out on the East Bank. They also have other good pastries and such like baos or pork filled pastries (hm, I'm not sure if the official term is "pastry" now). The king cakes are cream filled, so you still get the sweetness of the icing, but to me it's so much better. I especially love the cream cheese and almond filled ones. I have been eating two big pieces for breakfast this week (whoops) and then again for dessert sometimes after dinner. They taste so good, and I can't let them go to waste. Usually Ally and my dad are the big king cake eaters in the family, but I have assumed my rightful role this year. I will definitely miss king cakes next year for college. We send Ally and Chloe some each year, but it's not the same I don't think. So yes, my contribution to this post is to try the Dong Phuong king cakes! At some times during Mardi Gras they're so popular that you have to order one, because they'll sell out before the morning is over. Hope you enjoy!

Bernard C said...

Hi thanks for poosting this