king cake mania

The king cake mania around here is something. I’m a cake lover so trust me, I’m not complaining. My first ever king cake was from a New Orleans grocery store during a visit six or seven years ago. Now I know that this is a gross insult, but one taste of the tender, faintly-spicy cake, the crunch of purple sugar, the sweet icing, the search for the baby -- I was hooked.

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Nearly every establishment I’ve been into is offering a version of king cake. People have their favorites. So far I’ve tried so-called plain, and also slices with chantilly cream or praline, and even a vegan cream cheese. They’ve all been delicious and I’m excited to try more.

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Today I was walking home from a bakery stop with a box of pastries and a dogwalker shouted, What’d ya get? Assuming that the flat box I cradled contained a king cake. I said it was birthday pastries, not a king cake, and we shared a laugh. It was her birthday, she exclaimed, so we congratulated each other, fellow Capricorns, and continued on our sunny walks.