Right after New Year’s Day this year, shrink-wrapped boxes of purple, yellow and green iced king cakes began stacking up on grocery store shelves across our area. Ahh…king cake! Fat Tuesday is tomorrow, and regaling masses are celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans as this carnival season comes to an end. Which means the window for eating king cake is closing too!
We’ve never been to NOLA during Mardi Gras season, but we like to visit at other times. Visiting during Labor Day weekend during the Southern Decadence Weekend festival can be colorful and entertaining. (I intentionally didn’t take pictures of the wilder aspects of Decadence Weekend for pornographic reasons.) You can read about our visit to Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 right after Mardi Gras a few years ago, and print out another King Cake recipe here.
On our last visit in July 2022, during daylight hours, we decided to take a Voodoo Walking Tour, starting at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Our enthusiastic guide, Nate, explained the history and folklore of Voodoo as we walked throughout the small museum in the French Quarter. The word Vôdoun comes from the Fon language in West Africa, meaning “god” or “spirit,” and signifies a legitimate religion practiced predominantly in Caribbean countries. Voodoo dolls are used as effigies to celebrate healing and communicating with deceased loved ones. The pincushion dolls often associated with Voodoo come straight out of Hollywood horror movies.
Propped up among the gris-gris (amulets) and African masks, a taxidermy alligator head perched atop a mannequin form smiles menacingly at visitors. Le Loup-Garou. This shape-shifting creature is often depicted as a female werewolf in Cajun folklore, but can take the form of alligators. Parents in this part of LA use Le Loup-Garou as a way to encourage naughty children or promiscuous teenagers into making good choices. It would’ve worked with me!
Nearby a top-hatted, cigarette smoking skeleton seems to have been forgotten when Halloween decorations were put away. Baron Samedi is lored to frequent the crossroads of the living and after lives. A constant figure in graveyards, Baron Samedi is rarely seen without a glass of rum and often tells lewd jokes. If you’ve lead an unsavory or dishonest living life, you’ll be escorted by Baron Samedi to the underworld.
At the back of the museum is a traditional Voodoo alter and multiple displays, pictures and artifacts paying homage to Marie Laveau, the famous Louisiana Creole Voodoo Queen. Known for her charms, potions and gris-gris, onlookers can see which herbs were typically found in Marie Laveau’s possession. The museum also proudly displays a so-called piece of her kneeling bench (complete with money offerings), as well as personal Catholic prospectuses.
After hearing about all things Voodoo in the museum, Nate began the walkabout part of the tour. Sadly, a visit to Marie Laveau’s grave in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 wasn’t an option (even though it was advertised). The COVID pandemic gave the Catholic Church an excuse to close the cemetery to the general public. Prior to this, various tour operators could come and go within cemetery hours. Now one exclusive tour company called Cemetery Tours New Orleans holds the sole contract with the church, and clearly isn’t Nate.
We did learn a few things about French Quarter architecture as we hoofed it to Louis Armstrong Park (aka Congo Square). If you look closely, you’ll see spiky features added into the wrought iron work. To protect their wholesome daughters in second floor bedrooms, father installed Romeo Spikes on ground floor support poles. These spikes prevented potential wooers from climbing up. But in the event of a midnight escape, the said caller received a back-end full of fun. In other adjacent townhouse areas, residents installed a sort of barbed wire feature to prevent burglars, and potential Don Juans, from climbing on over.
Although Marie Laveau’s gravesite was off limits, we walked by the site of her long gone home at 1020-22 Rue St. Ann Street. In addition to her Voodoo Priestess duties, Marie Laveau was a hairdresser who fully exploited gossip of NOLA’s higher-end citizens. Gifts of hair scrunchies and clips are often left on the property.
The concluding location on our walking tour was Congo Square, now known as Louis Armstrong Park. In 1817, New Orleans instituted an ordinance limiting African slaves to a specific gathering place where they could congregate and sell their wares. The grounds associated with this gathering area have since been cobbled over into a waterpark/mosaic area. Music and arts naturally evolved out of this area, lending itself to modern Jazz music…hence Louis Armstrong Park. Today, Louis Armstrong Park is a symbol of culture and remembrance. A live oak called the Sacred Tree also stands sentinel where gifts of coins, fruit, and clothes are frequently left for those in need.
As the window closes on king cake for this year’s carnival season, there’s a last chance to become the king or queen for a day…and bring the next king cake to the party! In 2020, I shared King Arthur’s King Cake recipe with an almond paste filling. It featured a sweet brioche dough found in everyday cinnamon rolls, but what it doesn’t showcase is twisted almond-extract kissed cream cheese filling AND a twisted braid.
This recipe creates TWO king cakes. You have options…send two to work, eat one and freeze one, eat one and send one to work, or pig out on both king cakes. During this season, we’ve eaten all options…hence Fat Tuesday. The recipe features either a cream cheese or cinnamon option. Pick one flavor! Or do both tasty options and halve the recipe to make one cream cheese and one cinnamon king cake. You won’t be disappointed either way! (The Hubby loves the cream cheese option!)
Mardi Gras King Cake
- Prep Time: About 2 Hours
- Cook Time: About 35 Minutes
- Total Time: 2-1/2 to 3 Hours
- Yield: Makes 2 King Cakes 1x
Ingredients
For Dough:
1 cup milk (I prefer whole, but 2% can be used.)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp. salt (table, kosher or sea)
2/3 cup warm water (about 120 degrees F)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 tbsp. vanilla
5 to 5-1/2 cups all purpose flour
For Cream Cheese Filling (Use with All Dough):
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4–1/2 tsp. almond extract*
For Cinnamon Filling (Use with All Dough):
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
For Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
Colored sugars in yellow, green and purple colors*
Instructions
To Make Dough:
Combine milk and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 60-90 seconds on high heat . Add salt and let cool until warm.
In another bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the warm water, 1 tbsp,. sugar and yeast. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 5-10 minutes.
Bread Machine: Pour milk and yeast mixtures into the bread machine bucket. Add in order–eggs, vanilla and 5 cups flour. Turn the bread machine onto the “Dough” setting. The dough will be soft and should combine in a ball away from the bucket sides. If the dough seems too sticky, add 1 tbsp. flour at a time. Dough should double in size.
Standing MIxer: Pour the milk and yeast mixtures, eggs, vanilla and 1 cup of flour into the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the dough hook attachment on medium speed to combine the ingredients. Gradually add remaining 4 cups flour. Dough will be soft and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add flour in 1 tbsp. amounts if dough is too sticky. Knead dough for about 5-7 minutes on medium until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out into a lightly greased bowl and turn once. Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise in a warm location until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
To Make Filling:
Cream Cheese Filling: Combine all ingredients into a medium size bowl. Use a hand-held mixer to beat all until smooth. Set aside. Use all of the filling with 2 king cakes, or halve to fill one.
Cinnamon Filling: Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Stir by hand to combine evenly. Set aside. Use all of the filling with 2 king cakes, or halve to fill one.
Assembling the King Cakes:
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
After dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and cut into two equal size pieces. Set one piece aside. Roll out one piece into a rectangle about 10-inches by 16-inches. Cut the dough into half lengthwise using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
Spread 1/4 of the cream cheese OR cinnamon filling evenly onto each piece of dough. Roll each piece of dough lengthwise, like you’re rolling up cinnamon rolls. Use your fingers to pinch the long dough seam to seal the dough. Twist the two dough logs together like a braid. Move the twisted dough onto a prepared baking sheet and form into an oval shape. Pinch the dough edges together to seal. Repeat with remaining piece of dough and filling. Cover each king cake with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until puffy, about 45 minutes. As dough is rising, preheat oven to 335 degree F.
Remove plastic wrap. Bake king cakes for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Dough should register about 190 degrees F on a digital thermometer when done. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. If desired, insert a plastic baby figure into each cooled cake.
To Make Icing:
Using a hand-held mixer in a medium bowl, beat together all icing ingredients except colored sugars. Icing should be smooth and thick, but pourable. Drizzle half of the icing onto each king cake. Use a spatula to smooth the icing evenly onto the cakes. Sprinkle yellow, green and purple colored sugar over wet icing.
Slice, serve and enjoy! If you find the baby figurine, you’re king or queen for the day…and have to bring the king cake next year. King cake will keep for up to 3-5 days at room temperature, or up to 7 days in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container.
Notes
This recipe makes 2 king cakes. Choose either cream cheese or cinnamon filling when making this recipe. If you want one cream cheese and one cinnamon king cake, you’ll need to halve the filling recipes. You can easily freeze one unfrosted king cake for 2 to 3 months, tightly wrapped. Let frozen king cake come to room temperature for 2 to 3 hours before icing and serving.
*If you don’t have colored sugar, make your own by combining 1/2 cup granulated sugar with a few drops of food coloring. Shake in a glass jar or zip-top bag.
IMNPB
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