Louisiana King Cake

[ronbeaux]

Had to have one.

Triple berry cream cheese filling with colored butter cream icing


Fresh out of the oven


Oozing!!


#2 going to the inlaws

[FLBentRider]

Nice, Ron!

Our New Orleans office sent us one a few years back. Complete with the "secret" inside.

[BigJohnT]

A buddy of mine used to send me one each year after I moved from LaPlace to here. I forget the name of the place but it was on Veterans Mem Hwy in Metairie... They sure are good to eat. Oh yea bite slowly till the lucky person gets the surprise.

JT

[Tenpoint5]

That does look good, Ron would you be so kind as to elaborate on the story about the King Cake. I am not versed at all on this subject.

[OU812]

Looks like somethin to do with Mardi Gras to me, but what do I know.

[FLBentRider]

I know some of the lore, but I'll defer to Ron...

[seemore]

Ron, they look great!  I sampled one last year at a local bakery, and it was good!
Would you care to give us the recipe?
Mrs

[pensrock]

Uniced it looks more like bread. Is it really a cake?

[ronbeaux]

OK OK. I tell ya what I know. Buy one. They are cheaper that way.

It's a kind of light bread dough similar to cinamin rolls or coffee cake.

Blurb from elsewhere:
"French settlers brought the custom to Louisiana in the 18th century where it remained associated with the Epiphany until the 19th century when it became a more elaborate Mardi Gras custom. In New Orleans, the first cake of the season is served on January 6. A small ceramic figurine of a baby is hidden inside the cake, by tradition. However now, the tradition is giving way to the baby being supplied and the customer placing the baby were ever they wish in the cake. Whoever finds the baby is allowed to choose a mock court and host the next King Cake party the following week (weekly cake parties were held until Mardi Gras).

In 1870, the Twelfth Night Revelers held their ball, with a large king cake as the main attraction. Instead of choosing a sacred king to be sacrificed, the Twelfth Night Revelers used the bean in the cake to choose the queen of the ball. This tradition has carried on to this day, although the Twelfth Night Revelers now use a wooden replica of a large king cake. The ladies of the court pull open little drawers in the cake's lower layer which contain the silver and gold beans. Silver means you're on the court; gold is for the queen.


  The classic king cake is oval-shaped, like the pattern of a racetrack. The dough is basic coffee-cake dough, sometimes laced with cinnamon, sometimes just plain. The dough is rolled out into a long tubular shape (not unlike a thin po-boy), then shaped into an oval. The ends are twisted together to complete the shape  (HINT: if you want to find the piece with the baby, look for the twist in the oval where the two ends of the dough meet. That's where the baby is usually inserted.) The baby hidden in the cake speaks to the fact that the three Kings had a difficult time finding the Christ Child and of the fine gifts they brought.

The cake is then baked, and decorated when it comes out. The classic decoration is simple granulated sugar, colored purple, green, and gold (the colors of Carnival). King cakes have gotten more and more fancy over the years, so now bakeries offer iced versions (where there's classic white coffee cake glaze on the cake), and even king cakes filled with apple, cherry, cream cheese, or other kinds of coffee-cake fillings."


We get these often this time of year and you always want to be the first to cut it or the last. Being first the odds are you will not find the "baby" and you will not have to buy the next one. Going last gives you the chance to fake a stomach virus if no body has found the "baby."

[ronbeaux]

I followed the basic process in this recipe and added my own touch to it.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/29/KingCakewithCreamCheeseFi45319.shtml

[Tenpoint5]

Thanks Ron

BTW will go out in the morning mail

[Pachanga]

Nice work Ron.

That looks way better than any I have ever bought or received in the mail.  The beads are a nice touch.  Does the wife know you give those out?  ;D 

Good info too.

Thanks,

Pachanga

[OU812]

Thanks for the info, I did not know that.