Christ the King Cookie Crowns

The Feast of Christ the King is a moveable feast. It is celebrated on the final Sunday of the liturgical year, which is the last Sunday before Advent begins.

Decorating crown shaped cookies is a fun activity for children to celebrate this feast! You can use store bought cookie dough, or make your own, and if you don't happen to have a crown cookie cutter, just cut out your own crowns freehand or using a printable template. Here is Charlotte's simple recipe from her Cookie Masks for Mardi Gras:

Cut-Out Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. butter
• 3/4 C. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 Tbl. Vanilla or almond
• 1/4 Tbl. butter extract
• 1 3/4 C. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and flavorings and mix well. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to batter and mix well. CHILL 3-4 hours or overnight before using.

Roll cookies out approximately 1/4 inch thick. Bake cookies at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes. This dough keeps well in a covered container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

Decorate with Cookie Icing and sprinkles.

You can find additional recipes for the feast of Christ the King in the archives. 

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A Crown Cake on the Feast of Christ the King

Happy Feast of Christ the King! 

Our family is celebrating with a Persimmon Cake baked in a Crown Cake Pan. 

You can find additional Crown Cakes and recipes for the feast of Christ the King in the archives as well as even more suggestions over at Catholic Culture! 

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Blessed Miguel Pro "Cocol" Sweetbread

November 23 - Optional Memorial of Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro

Miguel Pro was a Jesuit priest and martyr during the severe persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico in the early 20th century. He is known for his piety, charity, service and joyful spirit. He often donned disguises to hide his identity from Mexican authorities as he conducted his underground ministry as a priest. He was martyred by firing squad on November 23, 1927 proclaiming "Viva Cristo Rey!" (Long live Christ the King!) 

As a child he had a precociousness that sometimes went too far, resulting in near-death accidents and illnesses. On regaining consciousness after one of these episodes, and seeing the worried faces of his parents, he immediately asked for some of his favorite Mexican sweet bread, referred to as cocol. From this he acquired his childhood nickname "Cocol." Later while exercising his secret ministry as a priest, Father Pro signed many of his letters "Cocol." It reminded people not only of the treat, but also of the living bread of the Eucharist.

Cocol is an authentic Mexican bread that dates back to the arrival of the Spanish in the New World. The indigenous people were unfamiliar with the types of breads that were important parts of European diets at the time. The native Mexican staple breads were maize-based flat breads. The Spanish introduced the methods of grinding wheat, mixing, and baking bread dough and later on the Mexican people added their own ingredients commonly used at the time. Cocol bread has the distinction of being the oldest bread recipe in Mexico due to this meeting of the Aztec and Spanish cultures.

Cocol Recipe  (From Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ site )

• 4 c. flour
• l pkg. active dry yeast
• l c. anise tea
• 1/4 c. plus 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 c. butter, margarine, or shortening
• l tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• poppy seeds (optional)

Prepare the anise tea by boiling 1 c. water and 3 tsp. anise seeds. Boil for a few minutes and strain out the seeds. (You can leave the seeds in if you like.) Add the sugar, butter and salt to the tea. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. When tea mixture is lukewarm, add to the flour/yeast. Add eggs. Beat well. Stir in remaining flour and knead to make a stiff dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about ten minutes. Shape dough into a ball. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface of dough. Cover and let rise for one hour. Punch down. Divide dough into 10 or 15 pieces and shape each into a small ball. On lightly floured surface, roll or pat each piece into a circle about three inches in diameter. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. If you wish, brush the tops with a small amount of butter and sprinkle poppy seed on top of each cocol. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes.

Bake some cocol to celebrate the feast of Bl. Miguel Pro and also the Feast of Christ the King which is the same week. 

VIVA CRISTO REY!

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Chicken a la King

To celebrate today's feast of Christ the King, our family will be having chicken a la king for dinner. This is one of those recipes which are just perfect for a Fall evening.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped cooked turkey
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium low heat, cook butter until golden brown. Saute mushrooms until tender. Stir in flour until smooth. Slowly whisk in chicken broth, and cook until slightly thickened. Stir in heavy cream and turkey. Reduce heat to low, and cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with fresh buttermilk bicuits over rice or egg noodles. Pin It

Simple Cupcake Crowns

Many lovely crown cakes have been described previously, for use on various regal feasts including today's Feast of Christ the King. Another option, easy to put together in a pinch is to make these basic cupcake crowns. Take cupcakes and circle the perimeter with Hershey's Kissable "jewels" for a cute little crown. The kids have fun decorating, then consuming these creations.

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Food Fit for THE King

The last Sunday in Ordinary Time is this Sunday, and we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. (In the Extraordinary Form calendar this is the last Sunday in October before the Feast of All Saints). This feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, so the traditions attached to this day aren't as long standing as feasts from the early Church.

My view is make today's dinner a celebration, a royal dinner, as if Our King would be sharing our Sunday family meal. I strive to make Sundays a special family meal anyway, but this day will have a bit more regal treatment.

Our plans for Sunday will include a ham, potatoes, green beans, rolls, and for dessert, a Kahlua Cake in a crown shaped Bundt pan and royal cupcakes. I chose ham because I know Thanksgiving week is going to be busy, so having leftover ham for meals, and also a hambone to make Red Beans and Rice will make my meal planning and preparing a breeze, so more time to clean and cook for Thanksgiving.

The ham I buy is from Costco. I follow the reheating instructions, 325 degrees at 8 minutes per pound, but I do not use the glaze packet since it includes wheat flour, and my son is allergic. I instead follow the recipe from the old version of Joy of Cooking for Spirit Glaze for Ham. This is extremely tasty and keeps the ham nice and moist.

Spirit Glaze for Ham

1/2 to 1 cup dry red wine
1/2 to 1 cup bourbon whiskey (I use Maker's Mark)
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 bruised cloves
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan until sugar is melted. Pour over the ham and baste throughout the cooking cycle, about every 10-15 minutes.

Ham not your style? Then how about a fancier version of Chicken a la King?

For dessert, I'm preparing allergy safe cupcakes for my son, decorated with jewel like candies (gumdrops and jelly beans), and then a Castle/Crown shaped Bundt pan with our favorite chocolate cake. It's easy but so delicious, and food fit for a King.

Kahlua Cake

1 package Devil's Food Cake mix (Duncan Hines my preference)
1 cup Kahlua (may substitute non-name brand of a coffee liqueur)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (mini-morsels work best)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour (or use unsweetened cocoa) a Bundt or tube pan. For a crown shape I'm used a cathedral Bundt pan, similar to this Nordicware. Mine is a bit smaller than the usual Bundt, so it makes 3 cupcakes and the cake.

Mix all ingredients except chips together and beat 2-3 minutes. Add chocolate chips and beat 1 minute.

Pour into a greased and floured Bundt or tube pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. It's okay to undercook -- better moist. If toothpick inserted has a few crumbs but not liquid, cake is ready.

Before serving (after cooled) sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

So that's my simple crown cake -- the round Bundt pans immediately remind me of a crown, but perhaps I'm just too simplistic and looking for easy ways to celebrate.

Other crown ideas could also make the lovely Cookie Crown Cake from Family Fun Magazine or Crown Cake from Helen McLoughlin. Or veer in another direction and make a version of King Cake, because, after all, it's always good to practice or try out recipes.

Over at my blog I have some music and centerpiece craft (coloring page) appropriate for Christ the King Sunday.

May Christ our King reign in our hearts and our homes!
Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Pin It

A Crown for our Queen

This past spring, I ran across a darling Cookie Crown Cake recipe in a Family Fun Magazine. I have been waiting for an opportunity to make it, and what better reason than to celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 22nd. (On the Extraordinary Calendar it is celebrated on May 31st. )

Even though it looks complicated, it actually sounds fairly easy.... You won't even need a cookie cutter with this pdf template to use as a pattern. Enjoy!

Cookie Crown Cake

from Family Fun Magazine

Ingredients:

2/3 cup flour

16 1/2-ounce roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough

Template for cookie pattern

4 tablespoons yellow decorating sugar

2 (16-ounce) cans white frosting

Candy decorations (regular and mini M&M's, and Stardrops hard candies)

2 (8-inch) round cakes

Directions:

1. Knead the flour into the cookie dough to firm it up. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Using the template, cut out as many cookies as you can. (If you happen to have a small heart cookie cutter you can use that as well.) Keep rerolling the dough scraps and cutting until you have 12 cookies -- 11 for the cake plus a backup. Transfer the cookies to a foil- or parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them generously with yellow sugar. Bake them according to the package directions until they're golden brown around the edges. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

2. Spoon 1/2 cup of the frosting into a resealable plastic bag. Snip off a corner of the bag and pipe designs onto the cookies. Add candy decorations as shown above. Allow the frosting to set for at least 1 hour before handling the cookies.

3. Use a long serrated knife to trim the top of one of the cakes flat, if needed. Place it on a serving platter, spread a thin layer of frosting on the top, then lay the other cake on it, rounded side up. Generously frost the stack and use a spoon to draw the frosting on top up to a point as shown. Carefully press the cookies around the side of the cake, piping lines of frosting between the cookies to secure them. Serves 11.

Mary, Queen of Heaven ~ Pray for us!

UPDATE: You can see my finished cake here.

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