Happy Mardi Gras. . .

Mardi Gras is a party but much more than that! Our beads and very unusual Mardi Gras postcards will be going out tonight (pictures will follow). This marks the start of the Pre-Lenten Season. Yes it is grand parades, costumes and sometimes a tad wild but my favorite thing is. . .

The sweet tradition you may have heard of: eating king cake—and finding the “baby” inside of it. But what is king cake, and why is it such an integral part of Mardi Gras? Before the festive day arrives, on Feb. 13, here’s everything to know about king cake below.

A king cake is a wreath-shaped cake similar to a Danish pastry--being from NJ I love a good Danish pastry. It’s traditionally made of brioche, flavored with cinnamon and embellished with a frosted glaze, along with gold, green and purple sugars. Collectively, these shades are the official Mardi Gras colors, and you can’t know what king cake is without knowing their specific meaning. Gold stands for power, green represents faith and purple represents justice, and overall, the cake symbolizes the unity of faiths. It also comes with a tiny plastic baby hidden inside, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

What does king cake taste like?

In New Orleans, king cake “has even become a flavor,” says Liz Williams, founder of the city’s Southern Food & Beverage Museum. If you’re wondering what king cake tastes like, during Mardi Gras, you can find everything from king cake–flavored coffee to spirits. Bakers may offer a choice of fruit or cream cheese fillings, and they sometimes top their king cakes with Mardi Gras decorations.

Personally I loved the blueberry, cream cheese King Cake--and believe it or not Krogers (yes Krogers the supermarket) made a good one! One year I will make a King Cake as very few bakeries in Maine make them. King Arthur Flour has a pretty good recipe. . .more like a Bundt cake. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/mardi-gras-king-cake-recipe

I have used their Eggnog Cake Mix and glazed it with the Mardi Gras colors (cheating but still tastes good!

When do you eat king cake?

While king cake traditionally is eaten during Carnival season (from Jan. 6 through Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins), you can probably get your hands on one whenever you get a craving.

Why is there a baby in king cake?

To explain this quirky tradition, let’s start with the king cake’s origins. This dessert is associated with a Catholic celebration called Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, which falls on Jan. 6 every year. It commemorates the story of the three wise men visiting the baby Jesus. This might lead you to believe that the baby is supposed to represent the baby Jesus, but this isn’t necessarily the case—or at least it didn’t start out that way.

According to NPR, in the late 19th century, a New Orleans social group called the Twelfth Night Revelers started the custom of hiding a bean inside the cake. Whoever found it in their piece of cake would be crowned the king or queen of the Mardi Gras balls. Later on, the bean was changed to a baby. Donald Entringer Sr., a baker who operated McKenzie’s Pastry Shoppes in Metairie, Louisiana, is credited with starting this tradition in the 1940s. Entringer was asked by a Carnival krewe to produce king cakes containing prizes. Through a friend, he came across tiny plastic babies from a shop and got approval from the health department to add them into his king cakes.

Aside from being the belle of the ball, the recipient is also said to receive good fortune after finding this prize. That person is also supposed to host the next king cake party and, of course, take care of the next king cake.

Now certain bakeries in New Orleans do porcelain baby dolls in their cakes and each year is a different doll. I was fortunate to get a few!

Whew this turned out to be a long post so some time during the Carnival Season we will talk about the masks worn. . .another fun aspect!

Laissez les bons temps rouler