King Cake, ya gotta love 'em. In south Louisiana we take King Cake season very seriously. Even to the point of arguing about what bakery makes the best. This weekend I will try my hand at making one of these wondrous concoctions and will take pictures to share with you. Who knows I could be the next award winning King Cake baker. (People I have NEVER used yeast in my life!) I can assure you this will most likely be humours.
The tradition was brought to the area by colonists from France and Spain. King cake parties in New Orleans are documented back to the eighteenth century.
The king cake comes in a number of styles. The most simple is a ring of twisted bread, similar to a giant cinnamon roll topped with icing or sugar, usually colored purple, green, and gold (the traditional Carnival colors) with food coloring. Some varieties have filling inside, the most common being cream cheese followed by praline. My favorite is the oh so yummy strawberry creamcheese..
It has become customary in the southern culture that whoever finds the baby must provide the next king cake. This is always fun to do at work, although you hope you don't find the baby twice because it can become expensive. Small cakes can start at $14.95 and be as expensive as $60.00 not including shipping.
20 comments:
Aloha,
I so love these King Cakes and I have never seen them until recently on blogs or the food/travel channel.
I have not been to the south yet, but I have family History from the south, I can't wait to visit and learn a good sweet tea and an awesome Lemonade:) and now king Cake
yummy
Aloha wishes from across the sea
Brandi
I too have only recently become aware of the King Cakes and the tradition which is shocking because I am a Southern Girl and my BFF married a boy from Baton Rouge and lived there during her marriage to him.. so where was I???...Oh yes I cannot believe I just now am becoming educated on this fabulous tradition!!!
Mardi Gras is on my bucket list or course.
Good luck with that yeast and I will stay tuned for the results!!
Yummmmmm I hope you save a piece for me! Will you be making this cake fropm scratch? I just finished the last piece of ours this morning...gotta love it!
Looks like the weight gain might be worth it! We visited New Orleans for the first time, for my niece's wedding last summer- we had such a great time and the food was wonderful! I can't wait to hear how the cake turns out for you!
Oooo the Kings Cakes sound so good! I have never had one...will need to add that to the list to try one day!! ;o)
Susie from Bienvenue you are welcome to come and be my guest baker...HAHA you know the troubles and laughs we have...
I've never heard of this. I love stuff like this. My sister in law (who was born and raised in the Philapeans..oh drat I've spelled that 3 times and can't get it right) just enlightened me with a fun tradition of hers. At New Years they make sure to have 13 round fruit (all different kinds). Hers were on a pretty silver plate. It looked like so much fun. I want to look up more details on that, as it sounds quite fun! Again, thanks for the heads up on something new for me! ;)
Rebecca of the R&W Gals
I have never made one! I've always thought it was cruel to have King Cakes out just when you are starting NewYear's resolutions! Hope it turns out good!
Suzanne
Yeast isn't hard to work with- just don't dissolve it in HOT water, use warm. You'll do great! I love King Cake. Not being in Houston anymore, it will be hard to find a good one.
Oh my goodness...I LOVE me some king cake!!!Seriously, I am not a huge sweets person, but this stuff is so addictive. My personal favorite is the bavarian creme .... yummy! I know you live in Louisiana, so does my sister. I think the absolute best king cake I've had is from Berry Town in Hammond. I could probably eat a whole one by myself! That is not a good thing.
~Amanda
Amanda...King Cake with a glass of milk for breakfast YUMMY! I have never had one from Berrytown, but my daughter is in school at Southeastern. Might have to get her to pick one so we can compare a few for my post.
I made one last year and it wasn't great and it looked worse! I think I'll buy it this year! Good luck!
I've never even heard of a King cake! It sounds delicious though and maybe it's better that we don't have them around here to give it a try!
looks and sounds yummy...i have never heard of them.
Send me a piece! Just don't send me the one with the baby in it. : )
I have never heard of King Cakes. My husband is Greek and on New Year's Day we have dinner together and his mom bakes bread. It too is a twisty shape and she bakes a quarter in it. The tradition is that the person that has the quarter in their slice has good luck for the year. Twin got it this year and I don't think I have EVER gotten it. The first slice goes to the oldest person and then down the line of the immediate family. After that you include extended family from oldest to youngest and then friends. It's a great tradition and I need to learn to make the bread (I too have never used yeast) because my husband's mom is spunky but in her 80's. Good luck on making your King Cake~I'm sure it will be great.
Here is the post I wrote last year about my less then grand cake. Good luck!!
http://lotsofloveformine.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html
Our school store is going to do a special with King Cakes soon. The kids will buy them and some will have hidden charms in them. They will be able to redeem the charms for gift certificates at the store. Another Mardi Gras tradition is mask making. I have the 6th graders making fun masks this month.
So who got the baby?
Ya' all come on ova' and see me at Livin' Louisiana!
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