Mardi gras is Tuesday February 5th this year!

It was one of my very first work days at this particular bakery in town, and a customer asked if we sold king cakes. Considering myself a big fan of the baked good, I was totally surprised that there was a form of cake that I hadn’t heard of before, so when she said “king cake” I had no idea what she was talking about. I asked the customer for a description, but it didn’t sound like she had much of an idea either, saying instead that it was a request made by someone else, and she was just shopping.

At first, no one on my shift even KNEW what a King cake was. A few of my co-workers thought maybe it was “king sized” meaning it was just a really large cake, and another one thought maybe it was like a grooms cake. After a few hours, we just forgot about it and moved on.

I don’t think I ever thought about a king cake for another year or so… That was when Hurricane Katrina hit.

I remember hearing about hurricane Katrina, and just feeling powerless. I didn’t know anyone from any of the areas affected by hurricane Katrina, but still. I donated to the charities, I led a fundraiser at my work. Luckily no one I knew was affected, but we all just felt so bad for those who were.

About three months after Katrina came and went, I gained two new coworkers. Sisters that relocated from Louisiana.

Meeting them, you’d never have known what they had just gone through. These were some of the most beautiful, kind, energetic and exciting women to be around. They perked up our little bakery and made everyone excited to go to work every day.

In the two years since I started working there, we’d gained another co-worker, who I didnd’t know was from Louisiana as well. The three of them became fast friends, and when they planned a Mardi Gras party, and I was lucky enough to be invited.

When I asked what I could bring, in addition to the “bring some booze” suggestion (in your early 20’s its to be expected) They asked if I could bring some cupcakes, or a dessert or something. I remember one of the sisters said “I’m making the king cake, so don’t worry about that.” and I just laughed it off, kind of embarrassed since she said it like it was something so commonplace.

I wasn’t sure if they wanted me to just bring something from the bakery or if they meant for me to make it at home, and being a cake decorator I was kind of used to taking cake decorating orders, so I asked them “how would you like me to decorate the cake” and they said “with lots of green and gold and purple, and maybe put like a cutout of a baby on it or something.”

Now, I was confused.

“Let me get this straight, you want a baby on your Mardi Gras cake?”

The oldest of the sisters, the one who mentioned that she’d be making the king cake, she got a good laugh at that one. I was so confused though. “Why a BABY?”

“You know, like the baby tucked into the king cake?” she said, as though I had only suffered a momentary lapse of reason, and at any moment I’d pop back and say “Oh, thats right. I don’t know where my head was.”

But that didn’t happen.

They both began a very animated explanation, complete with hand gestures and diagrams scrawled on the back of a very long receipt one of them had tucked in their purse, of what a king cake is, and why having a baby on a Mardi Gras cake makes perfect sense.

A king cake is a round brioche filled with a cinnamon, sugar, and pecan mixture, drizzled with a thin icing and sprinkled with sugar sprinkles in gold, green and purple. After baking, it is tradition to tuck a little plastic baby into part of the cake, and whoever finds the baby in their piece is King!

Apparently, the baby is symbolic of the baby Jesus, and the king cake is shaped like a Kings crown. The colours of the sugar even have meaning- Purple for Justice, Gold for Power, and Green for Faith.

A kings cake is traditionally eaten anywhere between Epiphany (three kings day) on January 6th, and Mardi Gras. Its a tradition kept by people all over the world, but in the US, really is only common in Louisiana and the surrounding states.

King Cake

For the Brioche:

1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp Warm Water (115 degree F)
1 tsp Iodized Salt
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 tsp Orange Zest, minced
2 Cups Flour, sifted
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Eggs, beaten
1 1/4 sticks cold butter, cut into cubes

1 Egg beaten and 2 Tbsp water, for the egg wash
purple, green and yellow sugar sprinkles
1 plastic baby trinket

Dissolve the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, let stand until frothy.
Dissolve the salt, sugar, orange zest and milk in a small bowl. When dissolved combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture. Mix the cinnamon with the flour.
With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, then gradually add the flour, until all is incorporated. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes, or until a smooth elastic dough is formed. A little more flour may be necessary. With the motor running, incorporate the butter into the dough, a little at a time but rather quickly so that it doesn’t heat up and melt.
Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour in a warm spot.
When the dough has doubled in bulk punch it down, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Roll the dough out to a 6 x 18 inch rectangle. Spread the Pecan filling (recipe below) out in the middle of the rectangle along the whole length, leaving about 1 1/2 inch on each side. Fold the length of the dough over the filling and roll up tightly, leaving the seam side down. Turn the roll into a circle, seam side down and put one end inside of the other to hide the seam, and seal the circle. Place the cake on a baking sheet and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Before baking, brush the entire king cake with the egg wash.
Place the king cake into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

When the cake cools, tuck the baby trinket into the cake through the bottom. Drizzle the top of the cake with the icing and sprinkle with the coloured sugar in stripes.

Place on a large round serving plate and decorate with Mardi Gras beads, doubloons and whatever else that you like.

For the Pecan filling:

1 Cup Pecan pieces
1/4 cup butter
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice

Melt the butter and combine all of the ingredients together.

For the glaze

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
just enough lemon juice to form a thin icing suitable for drizzling (a tablespoon or so)

Combine the sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until no lumps remain.

Anyways, in the end I sort of understood why putting a baby on the cake would make sense. I ended up making cupcakes for the party and I put little plastic babies on them. It worked out quite nicely. I also had my first taste of king cake that night, and I thought then what I thought now… Boy, does this taste like a bear claw!

Wait, what’s that?

YOU FOUND THE BABY!

So, you’ve got all weekend to make yourself a delicious King cake, tuck a little plastic baby inside it, and celebrate Mardi Gras in traditional New Orleans style! I know its cliche, but I gotta say it-

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

-A.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 3:40 am and is filed under February 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.