New Orleanians have been scarfing down king cake for 40 days
There's a buried baby in that king cake, just so you know.
Where have you been? If Fat Tuesday has just sprung itself on you like a new Tiger Woods mistress, then you probably haven’t been partaking of the cake and buried baby.
Buried baby? OK, here’s the deal, thanks to The Guardian. King cake has its origins in the French settlers of New Orleans, who celebrated the coming of the three kings with a similar bun-like confection. It’s all part of the feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, or King’s Day. As you’ll see in the photo, the icing is colorful, which is significant: purple signifies justice, green signifies faith and gold signifies power.
Speaking of gold, if your coffers are a bit short and you crave king cake, short term loans might help. Please use discretion.
The buried baby is little Jesus
It used to be that a woman who got the slice of king cake that contained the buried baby was crowned the queen of Mardi Gras. Thus, king cake has a great deal of ritual significance. They also take a lot of time to make and are by all accounts quite yummy.
Haven’t the Saints Super Bowl victory and the current popularity of the new Disney movie The Princess and the Frog got you thinking New Orleans already? If not, king cake should do the trick.
Here’s a king cake recipe
Again, thanks to The Guardian. When king cakes are done, they kind of look like big bagels, only fancier:
- 1 bag of active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons milk, scalded and cooled
- 4 to 5 cups flour
- 8 ounces butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons melted butter
- 1 “buried baby” (don’t have Jesus sitting around? Use a substitute that’s two inches tall or shorter
- Light corn syrup
- Green, purple and yellow icing
Where’s the Jesus? Where’s the Jesus?
For cooking instructions, check out this article. It should grant you your Fat Tuesday wish, if that wish is a short term loan of deliciousness.
(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/melindashelton/ / CC BY 2.0)
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