It's Carnival Time...Cream Cheese & Strawberry King Cake!

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Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!  Yes, today marks the first day of Carnival Season here in South Louisiana and the I'd imagine 1000's of King Cakes are being brought into offices and homes for the first official King Cake party of the season.  If you're unfamiliar with the custom, here's a little information.  Until Mardi Gras, which is quite late this year, March 8, King Cakes will be everywhere - at work, when you visit friends, and at home with your family.

Now, everyone has a favorite bakery for King Cake, and people are serious about who they think has the best.  McKenzie's, a now-closed New Orleans bakery, made a brioche King Cake.  It was dry and somewhat tasteless, actually, but there are still people who reminisce and wax poetic over its perfection.  Not me, however, my favorite cake is from Randazzo's Bakery - moist, sweet, filled with cinnamon and smothered in delicious glaze - it is the best.  Not only does everyone have a favorite bakery, but also a favorite flavor.  Essentially, there are two kinds of King Cake, plain or filled, with both having a plastic baby inserted into the cake after it's baked, which I'll explain momentarily, back to the flavors.  Plain is actually prepared like a cinnamon roll, filled with cinnamon and sugar.  Filled, on the other hand, can mean many things, cream cheese, cream cheese with praline, cream cheese with apple, cream cheese with strawberry, cream cheese with Bavarian cream, I could go on and on.  Put it this way, there are no limits.  It is South Louisiana, afterall, and we don't do anything concerning food in a small way.   

On to the baby, which is laying atop the cake to the left, is inserted into the cake after it is baked, so no one eating the cake has any idea where it is located.  What happens if you get the slice with the baby?  Well, if you're at work, you are responsible for bringing the next King Cake to the office.  If you are at my house, you get to choose the flavor of the next cake.  Every family tends to have their own tradition when it comes to the baby.  So, what are the favorites at my house?  Well, my husband likes a filled cake with cream cheese with either strawberry or raspberry.  Andrew likes plain, like his mama, although, his mama, moi, has yet to turn down a slice of King Cake, filled or unfilled, good or bad.  It's Carnival Time, and it's all good!

The recipe I used is from Southern Living, and it's quite delicious, easy enough, and definitely worth making if you can't buy a King Cake where you live.  The recipe makes two, which I recommend, as you can make a plain and a filled version.  In addition to the cream cheese filling, I also spread 1/2 cup of strawberry preserves on top of the cream cheese filling.  Instead of a baby, you can insert a dry bean or some other kind of trinket into your cake. 

Linked to Cooking Thursday, Buzz on By Thursday, Twitter Hop Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Tailgating Time, Fat Camp Friday, Cookbook Sundays

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