Mardi Gras King Cakes
Source of Recipe
by Grandpoohbah, from Allrecipes
No New Orleans-style Mardi Gras celebration is complete without a King Cake: a fabulous, large, ring-shaped pastry that's drizzled with icing, sprinkled with green, gold and purple sugars, and secretly stuffed with a plastic toy baby. The lucky partygoer who discovers the toy baby in his or her piece of the cake gets crowned as king or queen and wins the honor of hosting next year's Mardi Gras party! So if you were fortunate enough to find the toy baby during last year's Mardi Gras festivities, or if you want to start this fun tradition with your family and friends, we've got recipes and tips to help you do it!
A Cake about Kings from Long Ago:
Although it's easy to give the party-crazy city of New Orleans all the credit for such a festive cake, the King Cake tradition actually began in France, in the 19th century, to honor the Christian story of the three kings who visited the newborn baby Jesus (a day known as Epiphany or Twelfth Night). The cake's three colors (one for each king) are thought to hold special meaning: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power. The cake's ring shape, too, is significant, as some believe it symbolizes the unity of all Christians, and others believe it aptly resembles a king's crown. And before plastic toy babies became the treasure of choice for this distinctive cake, people used peas, coins, pecans or beans. Some Mardi Gras revelers even swear that wealthy celebrators hide diamond jewelry inside! These days, millions of people of all faiths enjoy King Cake sometime between Twelfth Night and Mardi Gras.
Recipes Fit for a King (or Queen) :
Despite all the fanfare about a King Cake's proper appearance and what to hide in it, the kind of cake and filling inside will vary from baker to baker. Either one of these splendid but different King Cake recipes will round out any Mardi Gras feast, so take your pick to suit your fancy:
* If you want a coffee cake-style pastry with a rich, brown sugar and pecan filling, then this recipe is perfect: Mardi Gras King Cake - http://cake.allrecipes.com/AZ/MardiGrasKingCake.asp
OR
* If you want a spongier, sweet bread-like cake with a luscious, cream cheese filling, then this one's for you: King Cake - http://bread.allrecipes.com/AZ/KingCk.asp
The Royal Assembly:
As the honorable King Cake baker, you should know the 2 secrets to making a King Cake: Where the toy baby is inside of it, and how it actually got there in the first place. First, you shouldn't actually bake the cake with the toy already inside the dough, because the oven's heat is likely to melt the plastic toy baby and render the cake inedible. And, second, you have to hide the toy baby in the cake fresh from the oven, while it's still warm and soft -- just carefully slice the cake into equal- sized pieces, and then carefully tuck your tiny treasure into the cake piece of your choice.
Avoiding a Royal Disaster!
Part of the fun of a Mardi Gras King Cake is sharing the game that goes along with it. In a review written about the Mardi Gras King Cake recipe, a member of the Allrecipes community, ALSTONS4, offers an important reminder for us about the possible choking hazard that a toy baby hidden inside a cake may present. So be sure to tell everyone about the King Cake game and its traditions, and remind them to inspect their piece of cake before they begin eating it. To be extra careful, use a plastic toy baby that is too large to swallow, or hide an orange wedge or 3 to 4 pecan halves inside the cake (avoid items that may hurt someone's teeth) and then simply place the honorable toy baby outside on the top of the cake for all to see and adore!
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