RECIPE BELOW!! Epiphany is tomorrow.. wait no, in 2 days actually lol! Anyway, that means it’s about to be King Cake day!! But around here in Louisiana, the rules for that don’t necessarily apply, because you can typically find king cakes in stores the week after Christmas, and they’re continuously sold and enjoyed throughout the entire Mardi Gras season. It’s like the south said, “I’m not a part of your systemmmm!” (That’s a Lonely Island reference right there. If you get it, let’s be friends.)

It’s become somewhat of a family tradition of mine to make a King Cake on Epiphany. I made mine 3 days early this year so I could record and post it before Epiphany so that maybe some of you could make your own cake! The first king cake I ever made from scratch was a whole wheat plant-based apple cake (recipe not posted because that was so long ago and it wasn’t that good)… then I had a change of heart with cakes: I’m not going to try and really make it healthy. It’s a king cake. It’s meant to be indulgent. So the next year I made the standard cinnamon and sugar (click for recipe). Then last year, I made a sort-of healthy-ish version of king cake: whole wheat chocolate filled vegan king cake using a silkened tofu chocolate pudding recipe that was put into my hands thanks to the internet and a health challenge for the new year (that video is on YouTube (click here for link) with the recipe in the video description).

But THIS YEAR…. I wanted to do something different!

Pralines are a staple in southern Louisiana. There are many variations of the sugar treat: some are very soft and buttery, some have a good snap to them (almost like a brittle), some are right in between those textures. The most standard is a pecan praline, but you can also find pralines containing other nuts like almonds as well.

I wanted the filling to pretty much be a praline without me having to pre-cook it.

I didn’t want to have an awkward texture in the middle of the cake. So I included all the standard ingredients for a praline: butter, sugar, vanilla, pecans. Just sit back and let the maillard reactions take over from there.

This recipe was a really delicious success. Right as I was done filming the video, I sent a couple pictures to our family group text saying “Vegan praline king cake fresh out the oven! Please come get some when you can! I can’t have this sitting in my house lol!” Y’ALL. My mom, sister, and brother-in-law were all at our house within 30 minutes LOL! I love that so much — it’s so nice to be near family! Anyway, I asked them for their critiques. I personally felt like it could have used a little more sugar filling, and so did my sister. Both my husband and brother-in-law said no it was good the way it was. I may be coming from a more critical angle… like, if this king cake were being judged, I would say “I personally would like a little more filling so that the carmelized praline sugar would be more at the forefront.”

SO, since the house was divided on the filling predicament, I’m included both my original filling amount that’s shown in the video, and I’m also offering a doubled amount which should lend itself for a thicker buttery creamy filling. You can choose whichever you like!

As I was making this, my little 8 month old was getting into trouble LOL! He wants to walk before he crawls, and he’s almost there (!!!!! 8 months, y’all…!!) I was on a school time pick-up schedule, so I had to get things going to rise and stuff before the first pick-up. ANYWAY, I say this because as I was rounding out my dough, I noticed my gluten wasn’t stretching as far as I wanted it. I started to try and knead it more, but the babe needed my attention and the rise needed to start. So I continued anyway. The result of this is that the flour was cracked in certain spots after baking — it couldn’t stretch as far as the baking rise went. So please knead the dough for about 15 minutes if you’re wanting that bready delicious king cake!

Some king cakes are quite crumbly as well. You can create a more crumbly king cake by only kneading for about 5 minutes, then beginning your rise. The 5 minute knead is a quick version that produces more of a crumble cake. Some super markets around here serve this style as well.

Rate the recipe if you try it out! People like to see other people’s opinions about the recipe besides the creator!

Happy eating! And happy Epiphany! It’s carnival time! Laissez les bon temps rouler!