Take-out Tuesday, King Cake, California Style

Happy Valentine’s Day!
February is so full of special occasions~
Fat Tuesday, the last day of celebration
before the Christian season of Lent,
is only a week away~
Celebrate with this, melt in your mouth,
glazed citrus loaf cake

King Cakes associated with Mardi Gras are traditionally made
with a cinnamon filling
and decorated with purple, gold, and green icing or sprinkles
This version is made with lemon, lime, and orange instead of cinnamon
and it is perfect for dressing up with purple and green sprinkles~
A twist on the traditional cake
and is wonderful in any season ~
Decorate with any color sprinkles to suit the occasion!

You can have it in the oven in less than 15 minutes,
whipped up from things you have in your pantry
and a little secret ingredient called Chardonnay
This Chardonnay and olive oil cake recipe came from
Proud Italian Cook, and let me tell you, it is heaven

It has a light, almost spongy, texture
and the citrus juices and zest awaken your senses
with each luscious bite

The wine and the citrus took me immediately back to my California days
when citrus was always piled high in the kitchen
and the refrigerator was stocked with cool California chardonnays
Prep a loaf pan

Beat the eggs and add the sugar

then fold in the dry ingredients…

Pour into prepared pan

Bake for 30 minutes and test, do not over bake

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan
and then turn out onto a plate
Make glaze while cake is cooling

Zest the lemon, lime and orange

Then cut fruit in half and squeeze juice into a measuring cup
with the powdered sugar and vanilla
Stir well to incorporate the sugar into the liquids

Add more juice, if necessary,
until the glaze reaches the desired consistency
Turn cake out onto a plate and drizzle with glaze

Sprinkle with zests and sparkling sugars

This recipe makes a lot of glaze,
so save extra to drizzle over the slices when serving


California Dreamin’ King Cake
Equipment
- loaf pan
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup quality Chardonnay*
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 meyer lemon
- 1 lime
- 1 orange
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- sparkling sugars optional for garnish
- citrus slices. optional for garnish
Instructions
Cake
- Spray a loaf pan or bundt pan with Baker’s Joy, or grease liberally with butter and then flour. Preheat oven to 350.
- Beat eggs with mixer and add sugar. Beat to blend. Slowly pour in oil and wine. Mix flour with salt and baking powder. Stir flour into wet mixture with a spoon until well blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes and test center with a toothpick. Do not over bake.
- Cool cake 10 minutes in pan while you prepare the glaze. Invert cake onto plate. Spoon glaze overall and sprinkle with zest and sparkling sugars. Makes 1 cake, 10-12 servings
- *use a Chardonnay that you enjoy drinking as it will affect the flavor
Glaze
- Zest citrus and reserve. Put 1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl or large measuring cup. Add vanilla and juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 lime, and 1/2 orange. Mixture will be thin. Stir in additional powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time until glaze is desired consistency.
The cake was baked in this Nordic Ware Lemon Loaf Pan from Sur La Table

Enjoy!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Sundays on Silverado/ Love Your Creativity
What’s for Dinner/ Between Naps on the Porch
All About Home/ Common Ground & Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Oh My Heartsie Girl / Turn About Tuesday / Our Tiny Nest
Karin’s Cottage Linky Party / Creative Crafts / Crafty Creators
Whimsey Home Wednesday Full Plate Thursday
So moist and delicious Jenna, I would love a slice this morning! Any kind of lemon dessert or citrus loaf is my kryptonite. Happy Valentine’s Day ♥
Thanks so much Mary 🙂
Sounds amazing! Wish I had a slice with my coffee now:@)
Thanks Lynn!
Oh, Jenna, that is absolutely heavenly!! Want! Pinned!
Thanks Rita, so easy so good!
This has to be the most beautiful and inviting king cake I’ve seen. The flavors are amazing, the decorating very beautiful and not garish, and that pan! I want it!
Did you hide a baby inside?
Haha, no baby, I should have thought of that!
Such a pretty cake and the cake pan is so fun!
Thanks Angie 🙂
Mmmm this sounds like sunshine in a loaf, Jenna! I’ll have to try this recipe.
I made your Housin Chicken for a meal train for someone that recently had back surgery, along with some baked rice, cucumber salad and gingerbread. Love that chicken! Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️
Thanks Kitty! I’m so glad you like the chicken, I need to make that again soon!
What a pretty King Cake! This looks quite moist and tasty.
Love the loaf pan.
Thanks so much Nancy!
This looks delectable!
Thank you Mary!
Jenna, that cakes looks and sounds delicious. I love a moist cake and citrus flavors are a definite favorite of mine. Happy Wednesday!
Easy to make too, thanks Pam!
I am not familiar with King cake, but it looks delicious. I am interested in learning more of its background.
King cake has quite a fascinating history, go to Wikipedia to read about it, it goes back for centuries!
This looks delicious Jenna and I love anything with citrus in it. It looks so moist and spongy, just like you said. Definitely pinning! I’d never heard of King cake before – there doesn’t seem to be much celebration of Mardi Gras here in Canada for some reason, but I love the sparkling sugars you added. Love love Nordic ware pans – so pretty. Have a wonderful week!
Thanks Kim, this cake is delightful for any occasion. Mardi Gras is a very big deal in Louisiana and southern Alabama, schools are even closed!!
Thanks Mary, let the good times roll!