The traditional King Cake of the Mardi Gras season, and the way it’s made, makes it quite unique. The colorful cake is made with a light, rich Danish dough then frosted with toppings that represent the traditional Mardi Gras colors. Gold representing power, green representing faith, and purple presenting justice. The cake’s dough was swirled with a sweet strawberry filling on one half, the other with a pecan cinnamon nut filling.
The Mardi Gras King Cake has something else that is as special as it’s taste. Buried within the cake is a small plastic baby figurine that is a symbol of this holy time of the year. The person who finds the baby in their piece is crowned ‘King’ or ‘Queen’ for the day and is obligated to host the following year’s holiday party. I guess this a a pretty neat idea as long as you don’t choke of the little thing. As it turned out no one choked or even divulged they’d found the baby. Apparently they knew of the tradition and didn’t want a bunch of strangers over for lunch next year.
Just in case you didn’t know … Mardi Gras (a French word meaning ‘Fat Tuesday’ or the English version ‘Shrove Tuesday’ or the German ‘Fastnachtkuchen’) wasn’t invented in New Orleans but some say was celebrated as far back as the middle ages sometime around when the Romans accepted Christianity. Apparently the Mardi Gras celebration was of a carry-over from the more ‘paganesque’ times before that the church could now tolerate. Anyway its a great excuse for a party. One of many I’m sure.
Phil
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