Guys…this post is a hot mess of bad pictures and awesome recipes. So lets just get this thing over with, shall we?

Tuesday was Mardi Gras. Hellz to the yeah!

If I was a better blogger, I would have posted this recipes on Monday … and I would never use the phrase ‘Hellz yeah’ again…but I’m not, so you are going to get this Mardi Gras recipes 3 days late. It is SO good I couldn’t resist sharing.

Melinda cooking up the jambalaya. Kinda one of my favorite pictures of her…

My super delicious jambalaya recipe. Bonnie and I just about ate this entire pot between us. I’ll post this recipe next week. It so yummy I’m planning on making it again!

Andrew and my roommate, Daniel, working oh-so-hard in the kitchen while the girls slaved away. Thanks for the help guys! (Daniel later cleaned the kitchen so all was forgiven!)

KING’S CAKE!! Definitely in the top 5 of best desserts I’ve made. Melinda said it was second only to the almond joy truffles, Dan said it was second to none. Yeah…It was that good. (Recipe Below) The icing was suppose to be yellow, green and purple but I had some issues with my all natural food dye…especially the yellow, as you can see…

Jester Bonnie! The point of the King’s Cake is a small toy baby or uncooked bean is placed in the cake before it cooks and whoever finds the bean/baby gets the crown and to host the party next year. Bonnie won this year!! (I put a dried chickpea because a plastic baby in a 350 degree oven is weird.)

Vegan King’s Cake
from DairyfreeCooking
makes one cake, 10 to 12 servings (HA! in our case it had maybe 6. We couldn’t stop eating it!)

For the Cake:

• 1 package dry active yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 T. maple syrup
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
• 1 t. salt
• ¼ t. nutmeg
• 3 T. sugar
• 6 T. soy margarine, cut into pieces
• 3 T. Egg Replacer Powder mixed with ¼ T. hot water
• ¼ cup coconut milk (not “lite” variety), plus more for brushing (I used the thick coconut milk from a can)

For the Filling:

• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup dairy-free soy margarine, softened
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans  (I used a mix of pecans and walnuts because I ran out of pecans. It was good though!)
• ½ t. cinnamon

For the Icing:

• Confectionary sugar
• coconut milk from above
• food coloring (preferrably all natural)

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the yeast, warm water and maple syrup, mixing gently until the yeast dissolves and bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Set aside until frothy, about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt, nutmeg and sugar. Add the soy margarine and process until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add this mixture to the yeast, along with the Egg Replacer mixture and coconut milk. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until a soft dough forms. Place in an oiled bowl, covered, for 1 hour, or until the dough is doubled in bulk.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, soy margarine, chopped pecans/walnuts and cinnamon until combined.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a large rectangle about 1/8” thick. Using a floured bench scraper or sharp knife, cut the dough in half lengthwise. Cut each of the strips into triangles, each about 3 inches at their base. (Think of a zipper or zigzag pattern when you cut, alternating the tops of triangles with the bases.) With the tips of the triangles pointed inward, place the triangles in a circle (or oval in my case) on the prepared sheet, overlapping one over the other and pressing the edges to seal. Place an even amount of the filling on the centers of the triangles, and place the baby or dried bean somewhere on the filling. Fold the outsides of the triangles over the filling, so that the reach just over the filling. Fold the tips over, pressing slightly to adhere the tips to the outside of the ring. Cover the ring lightly with a paper towel or clean dish towel, and let rise for 20 minutes more.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow cake to cool completely on a wire cooling rack, and then transfer the cake to a serving platter large enough to catch excess icing.

(Or, just leave it on the hot pan and put the icing on it while it still hot so that it gets all melty and messy because your too inpatient to wait. That’s what I did… though letting it cool works too…)

6. While the cake is cooling, mix together the icing. It should be noted, I NEVER measure out this icing because it’s so insanely easy. Place 3 or 4 spoonfuls of confectionary sugar in a bowl (more if you are going to want a thicker icing to spread). Add coconut milk to the confectionary sugar one spoonful at a time, stirring after each addition, until the desired consistency. I knew I wanted mine a little more liquidy because 1. Melinda likes coconut flavors so I wanted more coconut milk in my icing and 2. I knew I was drizzling it on the cake because I was inpatient so the icing needed to be runnier. I would say I added about 4 or 5 spoonfuls of coconut milk. If you want is spreadable so you have it thicker, you would want to add less coconut milk, obviously. That’s why you want to add the coconut milk slowly. Once you have the icing to the consistency you want, divide it into three and add the food coloring. I used India Tree, which is made from fruit and veggy extract, but only comes in yellow, blue and red. The yellow is STRONG! Go easy with it. Apply icing to cake.

7. Shovel  unceremoniously into your mouth and try not to eat the whole cake!

I know this is traditionally a Mardi Gras thing but it can serve as a delicious dessert or even a morning pastry if you leave out the dried bean/baby and cool it with the mardi gras colors. So definitely don’t wait 362 days to make this!! It really was insanely delicious. If I make it again, I will add the better pictures, I promise.

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