Celebrating Mardi Gras with King Cake
Photograph from joshmt on Flickr
I had never heard of a king cake until my roommate's parents sent her one from their home in New Orleans this past week. Although I didn't get the full experience (and nobody got the traditional baby in the cake because the bakery packaged the tiny plastic effigy separately), she did bring me home a slice of the green and purple sugar-coated pastry. Even after four days of sitting in her office, the cake maintained its moisture so I happily dug in. It had a briochelike texture and flavor and the inside was spiced like coffee cake, a nice surprise as it wasn't too sweet but was perfect for a breakfast treat.
There are a few different types of king cake, like the galette des rois, which looks more like a pie. The more traditional Mardi Gras version is usually shaped in a ring and topped with colored icing. You can get them stuffed with various things like cream cheese, dried fruit, or the classic cinnamon and sugar version. The three colors on top of the cake represent justice (purple), faith (green), and power (gold).
If you want to make one of these pretty, delicious cakes for your Mardi Gras party, follow the recipe from mardigrasday.com, a company claiming to have sold the first king cake online, or there's a good one by Cajun chef Ryan Boudreaux.
Just watch out for the baby—if you find him in your slice, you have to buy the cake next year.
Related
2009 Mardi Gras Events
Sugar Rush: Galette des Rois (King Cake) from Ceci-Cela Patisserie
Baking with Dorie: Galette des Rois
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6 Comments:
"I had never heard of a king cake until my roommate's parents sent her one from their home in New Orleans this past week"
How can someone who doesn't know what a king cake is qualify to write for this website?
alktraz at 9:24AM on 02/23/09
I made one for a dinner party Friday. I filled mine with our fav cream cheese and cinnamon. I have made them with a pecan praline, raspberry or almond filling before.
On Sunday we had king cake french toast.
The dough is nice and friendly. I think everyone should try and make it. It is a very cool thing to bake.
JerzeeTomato at 9:24AM on 02/23/09
Good one alktraz! BUT, to be fair, if you do not live in New Orleans or the Southeast you may never have heard of King Cakes. I lived in Birmingham, AL while growing up and got them almost every year. I love them...they taste so good and I always got the baby!! ; )
arm1970 at 9:41AM on 02/23/09
Cool, I had never heard the concepts behind the Mardi Gras colors before. As a native New Orleanian, I suppose I just take them for granted as tradition.
And I must add, after living in NY for five years, I've noticed the only people who have ever heard of king cake are either from somewhere between East Texas and West Georgia, or have deliberately learned about it while spending time in NOLA during carnival season. Most Mardi Gras tourists are there to check out what the bars are offering, no the bakeries. That would make for a very small pool of "qualified" writers for a food blog based out of NY...
marylaura at 12:42PM on 02/23/09
To my mind the green and purple sprinkles are the only thing keeping this concoction from becoming hangover breakfast. Perhaps it's a survival adaptation.
MikeNAlbany at 4:09PM on 02/23/09
reminiscent of Like Water for Chocolate's king's bread.
tiffanybite at 8:27PM on 02/23/09