This is a French Canadian recipe, Gateau des Rois, which Acadians traditionally serve from Epiphany through Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras). It is different than the New Orleans style of King Cake.
King Cake—also called Kings' Cake, Gateau des Rois, Cake of Kings, or Twelfth Night Cake—is served from the feast of the Epiphany through Mardi Gras. Traditionally, a trinket is baked inside. In the U.S., the most common trinket is a small plastic baby to represent the baby Jesus. In European countries, the traditional trinket is a bean.
In the recipe below, you may swirl molasses cake batter with white cake batter to make a marble cake, or make the molasses cake alone.
Yield: 9-inch square cake
Cake recipe
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 2 1/4 cups flour
Mix molasses, baking soda, and butter in a large bowl. Add salt, ginger, and boiling water. Stir well and gradually blend in the flour. Stir until smooth. Pour into a buttered and floured 8- or 9-inch square cake pan (if preparing marble cake, use a 9 x 13-inch pan and drop spoonfuls of each batter in alternate layers). Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for about 30 minutes (45 minutes for the marble cake), or until cake tests done. Cool and frost with Fudge icing.






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Comments
This is a much simpler recipe
This is a much simpler recipe than the traqditional NOLA recipe that I have. I wish it had been posted a little sooner as I would have made it for our church Mardi Gras auction last week end even though it is a bit different. The folks here in NY wouldn't know the difference.
Boring. Make traditional
Boring. Make traditional Mexican Three Kings' bread instead. You can find it in any Mexican cookbook. True King's Bread is a yeast dough formed into a circle with fruits and nuts kneaded in and decoratively placed on top of the drizzles icing.
This is a French Canadian
This is a French Canadian recipe, Gateau des Rois, which Acadians traditionally serve from Epiphany through Mardi Gras. It is different than the New Orleans style of King Cake.
Good cake, not too sweet and
Good cake, not too sweet and very easy to make!
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