recently had my first homemade king cake and I can tell you I’ll NEVER be eating one of those stale, overly sweet store-bought versions ever again. May have to give this one a try before Lent settles in next week!
I used to work at a mexican restaurant and they were huuuge on this stuff…although if you got the baby you had to bring food for some party, so I was not happy when I got it and was expected to bring in food while living in the worlds tiniest apartment and having absolutely no money!
Your cake looks gorgeous though, and I’m borderline drooling just looking at the pictures!
New to your site and what a pleasure to see this incredible creation on the front page! And now i’ve fallen in love with L&D (if i may be so familiar). Thanks for an amazing site and your insightful posts.
Beautiful king cake! I live 45 minutes away from New Orleans and we love our king cakes down here. Ralph’s cream cheese is hands down the best. I’ve always loved trying your posts and my fiancée and I look forward to this one!
I just made a king cake last week using the recipe of a very famous New Orleans chef and I thought it couldn’t go wrong. It was terrible- dense and dry. I can’t wait to try this one, it looks perfect!
This looks really lovely although really, really sweet too (must be all that icing). I have to try it though as I imagine it’s quite delicious. Where my family comes from we have the Bolo Rei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_Rei) – one of my favourite cakes probably because I’ve been eating it all my life!
ah! i’ve always wanted to try a king cake, but i live in california and there are no king cakes to be found ANYWHERE. thanks for recipe! also your story about the plastic baby made me lol…no seriously, i just laughed out loud in this coffee shop and people stared at me.
um….wow….just wow! i’m doing a post about your crazy cool cake on my site next week {hope that’s ok with you, if it’s not please let me know :) }. it might be the best thing i’ve ever seen.
Is it too late to comment on Blog Aid? I received my copy and love it! I have been showing it to all my friends. They agree that it has a very special look to it: quite artistic. Everyone seems drawn to one or more recipes immediately. I hope their enthusiasm translates to more orders and, ultimately more money for Haiti. Thank you.
When you grow up in Louisiana, you know about the baby even when you’re a wee kid. Yes, our parents served us cake with a choking hazard inside and we loved it!
I know this might come rather late but you might just be interested:
Bolo Rei (or, as you called it, King Cake) is a Christmas favourite in Portgual. Ours look a little different, though. The reciepe over here gets round to being more like a heavy-brioche (if you can curb your imagination around that) type bread, spattered with small pieces of cristalized/candied fruit (much like the english fruit-cake) and pine-nuts, and sometimes even crushed wallnuts. the flat-doughnut shaped bun is then decorated with large ribbons of candied fruit (much like jewels), ranging from orange-peels, pears and coloured squash. powdered sugar serves as a topping once de cake is done baking and the end result is much like a crown… but that a much naturally-coloured and scented.
before it was banned a few years back, the cake would also come with 2 surprises: a tin toy (that could be anything from a baby to an indian warrior) and a dried long-bean. The toy marked the lucky recipient, the king of the night, while the dried long-bean essencially marked the person who would provide next year’s cake.
Bolo Rei is really, really big over here and Christmas wouldn’t be the same without it throughtout the country.
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Nishta says:
February 10th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Tim, what a beautiful cake!
recently had my first homemade king cake and I can tell you I’ll NEVER be eating one of those stale, overly sweet store-bought versions ever again. May have to give this one a try before Lent settles in next week!
Sue says:
February 10th, 2010 at 10:43 am
This King Cake is gorgeous!! King Cake is definitely not a cinch to make and yours is absolute perfection. Happy Mardi Gras!
Sara Tea says:
February 10th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Yay king cakes! This looks so delicious! I love that yours looks light and airy.
Josie says:
February 10th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Beaaaautiful!
I used to work at a mexican restaurant and they were huuuge on this stuff…although if you got the baby you had to bring food for some party, so I was not happy when I got it and was expected to bring in food while living in the worlds tiniest apartment and having absolutely no money!
Your cake looks gorgeous though, and I’m borderline drooling just looking at the pictures!
beans says:
February 10th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
cool, i want to play!
Bryan says:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
That cake is truly outrageous.
Tim says:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
You’re truly outrageous. Truly, truly, truly outrageous.
Whitney says:
February 10th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Who dat?!
I love King Cakes and have had some really great one from bakeries but haven’t ever made mmy own.
Jen says:
February 10th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
New to your site and what a pleasure to see this incredible creation on the front page! And now i’ve fallen in love with L&D (if i may be so familiar). Thanks for an amazing site and your insightful posts.
Tim says:
February 10th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Welcome, Jen! Glad you found me!
Ting Zhou says:
February 10th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
It is really amazing and outrageous.. The image like a piece of oil painting.
Jennifer says:
February 10th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Beautiful king cake! I live 45 minutes away from New Orleans and we love our king cakes down here. Ralph’s cream cheese is hands down the best. I’ve always loved trying your posts and my fiancée and I look forward to this one!
kickpleat says:
February 10th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Wow, that’s some seriously intense cake! Looks absolutely beautiful and completely un-awkward.
Candice says:
February 11th, 2010 at 5:45 am
I just made a king cake last week using the recipe of a very famous New Orleans chef and I thought it couldn’t go wrong. It was terrible- dense and dry. I can’t wait to try this one, it looks perfect!
Caroline says:
February 11th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
This looks really lovely although really, really sweet too (must be all that icing). I have to try it though as I imagine it’s quite delicious. Where my family comes from we have the Bolo Rei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_Rei) – one of my favourite cakes probably because I’ve been eating it all my life!
christina says:
February 11th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I can’t WAIT to make this!!!!! gorgeousness!!
cherie says:
February 11th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I can’t believe you can eat this cake! It looks gorgeous!
megan says:
February 11th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
ah! i’ve always wanted to try a king cake, but i live in california and there are no king cakes to be found ANYWHERE. thanks for recipe! also your story about the plastic baby made me lol…no seriously, i just laughed out loud in this coffee shop and people stared at me.
Michal says:
February 11th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Your cake is one of the most gorgeous things i have ever seen. You have outdone yourself!
Brittany says:
February 12th, 2010 at 9:07 am
I’ve never has King cake, but it looks awesome!!
Brittany says:
February 12th, 2010 at 9:07 am
By has, I meant had. :)
jordan says:
February 13th, 2010 at 11:03 am
um….wow….just wow! i’m doing a post about your crazy cool cake on my site next week {hope that’s ok with you, if it’s not please let me know :) }. it might be the best thing i’ve ever seen.
Rena Gray says:
February 13th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
OMG. It’s so colorful! It’s the happiest cake I’ve ever seen!
jennifer m says:
February 13th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Is it too late to comment on Blog Aid? I received my copy and love it! I have been showing it to all my friends. They agree that it has a very special look to it: quite artistic. Everyone seems drawn to one or more recipes immediately. I hope their enthusiasm translates to more orders and, ultimately more money for Haiti. Thank you.
Make Roux says:
February 17th, 2010 at 11:25 am
When you grow up in Louisiana, you know about the baby even when you’re a wee kid. Yes, our parents served us cake with a choking hazard inside and we loved it!
Morgan P says:
February 17th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
I made this cake for a party last weekend. It turned out great!
Shae says:
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:01 pm
This is such an awesome picture! I love what you are doing here on your site!!!
Mariana P says:
April 25th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I know this might come rather late but you might just be interested:
Bolo Rei (or, as you called it, King Cake) is a Christmas favourite in Portgual. Ours look a little different, though. The reciepe over here gets round to being more like a heavy-brioche (if you can curb your imagination around that) type bread, spattered with small pieces of cristalized/candied fruit (much like the english fruit-cake) and pine-nuts, and sometimes even crushed wallnuts. the flat-doughnut shaped bun is then decorated with large ribbons of candied fruit (much like jewels), ranging from orange-peels, pears and coloured squash. powdered sugar serves as a topping once de cake is done baking and the end result is much like a crown… but that a much naturally-coloured and scented.
before it was banned a few years back, the cake would also come with 2 surprises: a tin toy (that could be anything from a baby to an indian warrior) and a dried long-bean. The toy marked the lucky recipient, the king of the night, while the dried long-bean essencially marked the person who would provide next year’s cake.
Bolo Rei is really, really big over here and Christmas wouldn’t be the same without it throughtout the country.
Tim says:
April 26th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Thanks for all of that good information, Mariana!
Karima says:
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:48 pm
You should use pixie sticks instead of coloured sugar :)
Heide M. says:
January 7th, 2013 at 10:34 am
Never had Kings Cake before. Can’t wait to give this recipe a try. Thanks for posting this.