Chef Nealy Frentz, LOLA Restaurant
Covington, Louisiana
Located in Covington's historic train depot,
LOLA Restaurant features gourmet soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch and upscale Southern cuisine for dinner. Owners, and husband-and-wife duo, Chefs Kieth and Nealy Frentz have been preparing their delicious dishes in the small kitchen of a converted train caboose since 2006. Guests who visit the restaurant can request a table in the train's dining car, too. Chef Nealy, who regularly creates specialty cakes and other sweet treats at the restaurant, shares her recipe for Ooey Gooey King Cake. Put on purple, green and gold attire and get to baking this twist on the traditional King Cake.
OOEY GOOEY KING CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 18.25-ounce box yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick salted butter, melted
Ooey Gooey Filling (recipe follows)
Icing (recipe follows)
A plastic King Cake baby
Assorted sugar or sprinkles in Mardi Gras colors: purple, green, and gold
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 inch round pan.
Blend the cake mix, egg, cinnamon and butter in a mixing bowl. Press the crumbly mixture on
the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Spread the Ooey Gooey Filling over the crumb mixture
in the pan. Bake until golden brown and firm, about forty-five minutes to one hour.
Cool for thirty minutes. Insert plastic baby into the cake by pressing it in firmly from the top. Ice and decorate with sprinkles.
*Tradition calls for inserting the baby into the cake, and whoever receives the piece with the baby inside brings the cake to the next get-together. Alternatively, you can place it on top for decoration.*
Serves 8.
OOEY GOOEY FILLING INGREDIENTS:
Makes about 2 cups
1 stick salted butter, melted
8 ounces softened cream cheese
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. bourbon
1 1-pound box confectioners’ sugar
Combine butter, cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, bourbon and sugar in a mixing bowl and
beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
ICING
1.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. bourbon
Combine sugar, vanilla, bourbon in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Add water, a teaspoon at a time, until the icing gets to the desired consistency.
