A King Cake Bushwacker is a favorite seasonal cocktail that pops up in many local bars and restaurants during the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras. Whether you know what King Cake tastes like or not, you will love this mouthwatering libation, but for those of us who are well acquainted, it is mind-blowing just how exactly it replicates the flavor of the quintessential Mardi Gras confectionary delight.
What I am giving you really is a two-fer: A tried and true Bushwacker recipe to make year round, plus a King Cake version to celebrate Mardi Gras in a way that is fun and unique. Topped with whipped cream, tinted sugars, decorative swirls of caramel or chocolate syrup and a miniature baby (if you want it to be ultra-authentic), this dessert-like drink is the perfect thing to get your Laissez les bons temps rouler on.
I feel like I should say, “Long story short,” before jumping in as people do before proceeding on to a very long story. My intention is to give you a great recipe for a cocktail I know you are going to love, but it would not be right for me to toss out a recipe that includes, of all things, a miniature plastic baby without providing context. I will use “brevity” as my mantra and do my best to stick to the high points.
If you have ever celebrated Mardi Gras in its birthplace of Mobile, Alabama (our neighbor to the west and my hometown for most of my life) or ventured to New Orleans where this Christian holiday leading up to Lent has taken on the epic proportions of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro; you have seen, and perhaps tasted, King Cake. This colorful, wreath-shaped cake is featured from January 6th until Fat Tuesday in the finest bakeries and the lowliest of supermarkets and just about everywhere in between. More like a Danish, or a cross between a coffee-cake and a French pastry; King Cakes are circular (representing the unity of one's religious faith), lightly filled and heavily sprinkled with colored sanding sugar in shades of purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power) in honor of each of the three kings who visited the baby Jesus on Epiphany (the twelfth day after Christmas).
There is one more very important and most unique ‘ingredient’ in a King Cake: a little plastic baby. Measuring a little over an inch in length, it is pressed into and purposefully hidden within the cake after baking. Tradition says, whoever is served the piece containing the baby has good luck throughout the year and has to host the following year’s party. (King Cake babies often have to pull double duty at Christmas when you find that the Baby Jesus is missing from your Christmas creche or nativity scene.)
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King Cakes come in every conceivable flavor with an equally astonishing number of fillings; in fact, a bakery right outside of New Orleans advertises over sixty different kinds, but cinnamon-pecan with a cream cheese filling is traditional.
Whew! Okay.. that was a lot, but honestly, I only provided the broad strokes. The takeaway here is this: King Cake Bushwackers taste amazing.
Whether you add it to your Mardi Gras celebration or not, you will love this cocktail. And maybe I have piqued your interest to learn more about our most rambunctious and raucous festival season that dates back to the eighteenth century.
Let the good times roll! Happy Mardi Gras!
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Ingredients
2 ounces Kahlua
*3 oz RumChata
1 ounce white rum
1 ounce Hiram Walker dark Creme de cacao
4 ounce Coco Lopez
4 ounces half-and-half
2 cups ice
Optional: whipped cream, chocolate or caramel syrup, a sprinkling of purple, green and yellow colored sugar & and a miniature little baby figurine (aka a King Cake Baby, a little baby Jesus)
Directions
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Place all ingredients, except for optional toppings, in a high-speed blender and process until smooth like a milkshake.
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To serve, drip syrup down sides of two cold glasses, pour equal amounts into both, top with whipped cream and sprinkle colored sugar on top. Place a miniature baby on top.
*For a regular Bushwacker, omit the RumChata.
Cook's Notes
The Bushwacker is our signature frozen drink. It’s popularity in the US began in Pensacola, FL (our close neighbor to the east) and took off from there. It is sweet and creamy like a milkshake with hints of cocoa, coconut and coffee. They range from slightly icy to thoroughly smooth and are ridiculously delicious. They have a deceptively high alcohol content, which can sneak up on you, leaving you “bushwacked,” a term we use to describe someone who has fallen hard from overindulging.
Bushwackers have an interesting history. They originated in the Virgin Islands but were brought to Pensacola, Florida in the 1970’s by the original owner (there have only been two) of The Sandshaker, a funky dive-bar known for being the local watering hole for the Blue Angels and oldest beach bar on Pensacola Beach, located right by the iconic beachball water tower. From the time they were first served there in the late 70’s, Bushwackers quickly made their way all along the northern Gulf of Mexico shores, aka The Redneck Riviera and beyond.
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