This New Orleans tradition hearkens back to the celebration of the Twelfth Night (12 days after Christmas), celebrating the arrival of the Wise Men at the home of baby Jesus. The King Cake is meant to represent the journey that these men took. A King Cake is made into a ring to represent the route the Wise Men took to avoid king Herod after being warned not to return. The three colors of sugar on top represent the three gifts and today represent the colors of Mardi Gras tradition: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold (yellow) for power.
What does this have to do with Mardi Gras? The Twelfth Night celebrations traditionally begin the Mardi Gras feasting. The party continued until Mardi Gras, when the revelings became a public affair.
So why the baby? In days gone by, a gold bean was put inside the cake and whoever got the slice with the item inserted was crowned for the day. In today's culture, getting the baby means buying the next King Cake.
King Cake is a special Mardi Gras treat! Try making some this Tuesday with your favorite filling! :)
My mom makes the best King Cake from cinnamon roll dough as described in Pioneer Woman Cooks.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/
This recipe makes delicious cinnamon rolls and even better King Cake!
From my mom: "I simply use about ¼ of the dough
to make a king cake. If you want a large king cake, use 1/3 to ½ of the
dough.
My icing is different from the recipe. 8 oz.
Cream cheese, cream that with the butter, spread over rolled out dough.
Sprinkle with 1 cup sugar and 1/8 cup cinnamon. Add more sugar and
cinnamon if making a larger cake or if you desire…
If you melt the butter, rolling up the dough is very
messy. Spreading it over the dough instead makes the rolling up of the
dough not quite so messy with liquid. Either way, the taste is very yummy
with all that butter.
For a king cake, after rolling the dough toward you and
pinching the seam together. Place the dough seam side down on a greased
baking sheet, pulling the ends of the dough together to make a circle or
oval. Pinch the ends together to seal. Bake for the same amount of
time as cinnamon rolls, adding a little time. Insert a straw into the
thickest part of the cake to check doneness. If the straw comes out
clean, then the cake is done.
I loved that you included the history of the different aspects of King Cake. I always wondered what the different parts represented. I figured they had to mean something! I also loved that you included a recipe. It made me hungry and really want to try it for myself
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