About Melinda Walker Expertise Having grown up in South Louisiana, and being of Cajun heritage, I believe I can answer just about any question regarding Cajun cooking. I have an enormous cookbook collection, most of which are in fact, Cajun cookbooks and they are at your disposal.
Experience I have the experience you gain cooking for large Cajun families, visiting in-laws from Japan and participating in numerous Gumbo, etc. cookoffs throughout the South.
Awards and Honors My recipes have appeared in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser Cookbook in Lafayette, Louisiana and my Cajun Cabbage Casserole dish took Honorable Mention in their recipe contest.
Expert: Melinda Walker Date: 1/14/2002 Subject: king cake
Question Okay, so this is more Creole than Cajun, but it's worth a shot: do you have any suggestions for king cake recipes using convenience ingredients (like refrigerated sweet roll dough, etc)?
Answer Well, actually King Cakes are a French tradition that has been absorbed as a Cajun tradition. Several of the King Cake sellers around here (i.e. Albertson's Grocery Store, Winn Dixie Grocery Store etc.) make their cakes without a filling and it is basically a big cinnamon roll. So, I would imagine that you can take canned cinnamon rolls and butt them together and form a ring with them. The stores then ice them and sprikle purple, green and yellow sugar on them. You can put the 'baby' inside one of the rolls before you bake it, as it is traditionally. But I suggest just hiding it under a piece as if it is swallowed, it is a safety hazard.
I will look around through my cookbooks and ask a few friends for anymore suggestions of using convenience products for King Cakes.
