Mike Clampitt is Milton's king of Fat Tuesday king cakes

Fat Tuesday is next week. While a lot of local restaurants will have drink and food specials to celebrate, there’s only one that celebrates the traditional Creole-style food year-round – Po’ Boys in Milton. It’s also the one time of year the restaurant offers king cakes. For at least the last two years, my family has purchased a king cake from Po’ Boys. We aren’t filling our stomachs with rich and fatty foods before the fasting of Lent begins – the traditional reason for Fat Tuesday – we just like rich and fatty foods.

I reached out to Po’ Boys owners Mike and Melissa Clampitt to talk about the cake. Mike was happy to oblige. Po’ Boys has been around since 2009, and the Clampitts purchased it in 2014. Mike said he’s offered king cakes from day one, but he didn’t really start spreading the word about them until the pandemic, when there was a need to find more revenue sources because in-person dining wasn’t an option. Describing the forearm-thick, circular-shaped cake as basically a big danish, Mike said the dough he uses for the king cake is the same he uses for his beignets – a sweet, yeast-based dough. He makes two at a time, with each batch taking about two hours between rising and baking. The cakes are covered in icing, with gold, purple and green sprinkles. Mike explained what each color means – gold is wealth, purple is justice, green is growth.

Of course the king of the king cake is the tiny baby Jesus that’s randomly placed within the dough. The person who gets the baby Jesus is supposed to have a prosperous year ahead, but then they’re also supposed to buy, make or bring the cake to the following year’s celebration, said Mike. The baby Jesuses are kept in a bag on a shelf in the kitchen. There are dozens in the bag waiting to be used. It’s enough for years’ worth of king cakes, said Mike. He said Fat Tuesday isn’t Po’ Boys’ busiest day of the year, but it is their day, and he always looks forward to it – even if it means being open on a Tuesday, which is usually when the restaurant is closed. “It’s kind of like how Irish Eyes has St. Patrick’s Day, but since we’re New Orleans-based, we’ve got Fat Tuesday,” said Mike.

The Point to close soon

Reminder: Walk The Point in Cape Henlopen State Park while you can. This is my annual reminder to enjoy The Point before the state closes it March 1 for the spring and summer. By the time my next column runs, March 3, it will already be closed. The annual closure allows for the hassle-free nesting of migrating shorebirds. All of The Point closes at the same time, but reopening is a little different – oceanside reopens Sept. 1, then in full Oct. 1. I’ve said it before, The Point is my favorite local place to take a walk, especially on warm early spring days like we’ve been experiencing recently.

Joke of the week

There’s been a lot of talk recently about unidentified objects flying through the air, which is why the timing of this joke submitted by reader Charlotte worked out well. It’s not really related to anything flying through the air, but it is related to something that’s in space. Anyway, I thought it was funny. As always, send joke submissions to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: Why do moon rocks taste better than earth rocks?

A: Because they are a little MET-E-OR.