Domenica king cake: Pure gold
Editor’s note: Still, only marginally revived from his Domenica king cake sugar coma circa 2013, Scott Gold is ready for another piece, or twenty.
The New Year’s celebrations might have died down, but in this town, that means the party is only just getting started.
Yes, my friends, it’s Mardi Gras time! And there’s clearly no better way to celebrate the beginning of carnival season than with the first king cake of the year. But, naturally, a plain Jane cake won’t cut it for me, not hardly. In the interest of fully indulging in what might be the world’s most indulgent holiday, I made sure to set off the season right: with a jaw-dropping, heart-stopping cake truly fit for a king.
I’ve had cream cheese cakes, fruit-filled cakes, and even chocolate-covered versions, but this year’s offering from pastry chef Lisa White at Domenica is something wholly new and totally over the top, without stepping too far from tradition: A decadent cake filled with salted caramel, roasted pecans, fresh bananas, mascarpone cheese (!!!) and gooey caramello, it’s ultimately topped with a praline crust flaked with — that’s right — solid gold leaf. Because nothing says, “I don’t give a #$*&!, it’s Carnival time!” quite like eating pure gold.
Good news: You, too, can enjoy this cake, available at Domenica all Carnival season (go to www.domenicarestaurant.com, with 24-hour notice), which for $35 will feed 14 happy revelers.
Or, if your family is anything like mine, it’ll feed about six, because seconds and thirds are mandatory. After all, it’s Mardi Gras!
And for you? Where do you go for king cake when carnival season rolls around?
BONUS FOOD PORN:
Native New Orleans food writer Scott Gold, author of The Shameless Carnivore and a blog by the same name, has written for Gourmet, Edible Brooklyn, The Faster Times, and other publications. His Food Porn Friday column for NolaVie offers a weekly mouth-watering photo designed to start culinary conversations in the Big Easy. Catch his weekly food column for The Advocate here.
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