New Orleans, January 2013:  Welcome to my kind of King Cake Party! We could talk from Epiphany to Mardi Gras about king cakes and la galette des rois, and stuff you find inside; however, I prefer a discourse on drinking one’s way through Louisiana’s epic culture.

So, let’s drink some king cake! Before you all start thinking that Bill’s olive has finally done slid off his martini sword, try this easy-as-pie cocktail I created several years ago that tastes abundantly similar to one of our sweetest Carnival traditions:

KING CAKE COCKTAIL RECIPE

1 oz. – 30 proof Cinnamon Schnapps
½ oz. each – Amaretto & Pineapple Juice
¾ oz. each – Irish Cream Liqueur & Whole Milk
Colored Bar Sugar* – Purple, Green, and Gold

~ Before getting started, if you do not already keep one there, put cocktail (martini) glasses in the freezer for at least a half-hour. Pour a tiny amount of cinnamon liqueur onto a small plate, just to cover the bottom. Also, pour the sugars onto another small plate. Form a circle with each color making up one-third, or 120 degrees for the mathematically inclined. Your glass will be dipped in this to provide a beautiful Mardi Gras colored ring around your cocktail!
~ Fill a mixing glass one-third with ice, something like a draft beer pint glass works great. Add the ingredients and roll back and forth into another glass to combine. Rolling as opposed to shaking a creamy cocktail like this reduces excessive foaming. It is important to use a lower alcohol cinnamon schnapps, if you use one with a much higher proof than listed, the cream will begin to separate.
~ Dip the rim of your chilled glass first into the liqueur plate, than the sugar plate. Strain the liquid from the mixing glass into the beautifully rimmed, chilled cocktail glass leaving the ice behind.
~ Toss in king cake baby for fun and drink up. But just like with a piece of traditional king cake, don’t eat the baby!

* An amazing variety of colored sugar – as well as margarita salt – is available online as well as at many local bar and restaurant supply outlets.