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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The Martyr's Crown :: A Cake for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket

"Remember the sufferings of Christ, the storms that were weathered...the crown that came from those sufferings which gave new radiance to the faith...All saints give testimony to the truth that without real effort, no one ever wins the crown." 

~ St. Thomas Becket

In addition to being an excellent choice for the various feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and many other saints who were kings or queens here on Earth, the crown also symbolizes the martyrs, who have been victorious over sin and death and have been crowned saints in heaven.   

For today's feast of St. Thomas Becket, a (middle) name-day for two of our sons, I decided to bake a cake in a "crown" shape pan to celebrate.  The following recipe for Easy Persimmon Cake is my mom's recipe and has been a favorite of mine since childhood.   Persimmons are rare in our area, and my grandparents, who would always send a big box of persimmons to my mom each year, have both passed away, but I was so excited to find some persimmons at Costco this past week!  I'll be making some persimmon cookies soon...  

A Martyr's Crown Cake for St. Thomas Becket

Easy Persimmon Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg Yellow Cake Mix
• 2 Eggs
• Water
• 3/4 cup Persimmon Pulp
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Cloves
• 3/4 cup Walnuts, chopped

Directions:

Place cake mix in a large mixing bowl;  add eggs and 1/3 cup LESS water than called for on package of cake mix.   Add spices and persimmon and mix as directed on package.  Stir in nuts.  

Pour into a greased 2 qt ring mold or tube pan. (I used my Fleur de lis Bundt Pan, though I would love to buy this Cathedral Pan for next year... It would be perfect for St. Thomas Becket!) Bake at 350˚F for 45-55 minutes.  Cool.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Note:  You may also use a 9"x13" pan; bake at 350˚F for 35 to 40 min; or two 9" round pans for 25-30 min. 

"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."

~  Revelation 2:10

St. Thomas Becket, Pray for us! 

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A Simple Caramel Applesauce Crown Cake

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel!  

Our family is celebrating with a simple Caramel Applesauce Crown Cake in honor of Our Lady baked in a beautiful Marian Fleur de Lis Cake Pan.   

Caramel Applesauce Crown Cake

Ingredients:

1 pkg Namaste Foods Spice Cake Mix 

3 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 fresh apple, grated or chopped (skin left on is okay)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Caramel sauce (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350˚ F. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan.  (I choose a beautiful Marian Fleur de Lis Bundt Pan for our crown cake. )   

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes.  Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  

Cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely and then top with caramel sauce.

*This cake can also be baked in a 9x13 pan for 35-40 minutes, or 2 -9" round layers for 30-35 minutes. 

*You can find the beautiful Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Statue here. 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Ora Pro Nobis! 

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Twelfth Night Rum Cake

Since we are enjoying and adjusting ;) to having a brand new baby in our home, I haven't been doing much baking this Christmas season.   I did manage to bake a simple cake for today, the 12th day of Christmas and the traditional feast of Epiphany.

For this cake I used the same great Pampered Chef Silicone Crown Cake Pan that I used earlier this year for our Garden of the Good Shepherd Fresh Orange Crown Cake, this time slightly modifying a recipe for a delicious Rum Cake, complete with three chocolate coins, one to represent each of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  I plan to give a small gift to each person that discovers a coin in their slice of cake.

Twelfth Night Rum Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix (plus ingredients to make cake)
1 tbsp rum extract, divided
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
Nonstick cooking spray with flour
3 chocolate coins
3 small gifts to give to those that find the coins (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray inside of Silicone Crown Cake Pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Combine cake mix, water, eggs, oil and 2 tsp of the rum extract in large bowl; mix according to package directions. Pour batter into pan. Bake 40-50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake pan from oven to cooking rack.

Meanwhile, for syrup, melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and water. Simmer 1-2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining 1 tsp rum extract.

Using dull end of a wooden skewer, pierce bottom of cake 50-60 times, inserting skewer halfway into cake.

Brush bottom of cake with 1/2 cup of the syrup and let stand 10 minutes to soak up syrup.

Using a butter knife, make three small incisions in the bottom of the cake to insert the three chocolate coins, one to represent each of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

Invert cake onto serving platter. Lifting straight up, carefully lift cake pan off cake. Brush top of cake with remaining glaze.  Dust with powdered sugar.

I also happen to have a bag of Peppermint Dipped Snowflakes, which I had purchased with the intent of using for our Jesse Tea this year (which never did happen) that made perfect "Star" garnishes for our cake.

*If you don't happen to have the Silicone Crown Cake Pan made by Pampered Chef, you could bake this cake in any Bundt Pan.   Nordic Ware also has some great pans that would create beautiful crown cakes including their Bavarian Pan, Cathedral Pan, and Fleur De Lis Pan.  Or, if you just don't have time to bake, you could even pick up a store baked cake and just insert the chocolate coins into the bottom of the cake before serving!   Pin It

A May Crowning Lunch Menu

The following post and May Crowning Lunch Menu was submitted by Tiffany, from Family at the Foot of the Cross, for publication here at Catholic Cuisine.  Thank you Tiffany!

On the First Friday in May the beautiful sunshine was glorious in our neck of the woods.  We (sadly) have to miss 2 other opportunities, later in the month, for group May Crownings in our homeschooling community (sigh).  Settling with doing it with our immediate family, we decided to make the best of it!  This First Friday in May was picked with the intention of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in mind.  We are gearing up to plant our Mary Garden on Mother's Day so we crowned Our Lady (here at home) first, so we don't stomp over our newly planted flowers after Sunday!  Then we traveled over to our parish shrine to crown Our Lady there.

We followed our morning May Crowning with a Crown-themed lunch! We were originally inspired by the crowning lunch ideas that we saw here at Catholic Cuisine by Waltzing Matilda...Then we took off from there! We offer prayers and thanks to these inspiring and amazing ladies. Our menu would also work for many other Marian feasts...

This was our Crowning Lunch Menu:

Crown-shaped sandwiches

Crown-tipped Chips

Crown Jewel Berries

Our Lady's Blue Lemonade

~For Dessert~

Queen of Heaven Crown Cake

Crown Shaped Sandwiches

(These Crown Shaped sandwiches are cut out from the large-faced sour dough bread. I made turkey and cheese sandwiches first, cut them out, and then added the pickles as the crown jewels.)

Crown-tipped Chips
(Just Triangle Shaped Tortilla Chips)

Crown Jewel Berries
(Serve a bowl of Fresh Strawberries!)

Our Lady's Blue Lemonade

(Regular yellow lemonade with blue food coloring.)

Queen of Heaven Crown Cake

**Updated to add brief directions.  Please click over to Tiffany's blog for a tutorial on her beautiful crown cake!

We created our own "home" ceremony which we conducted prior to our crownings. It included the following prayers and hymns:

1. Regina Coeli
2. Litany of Loreto
Hymns:
Immaculate Mary
Hail Holy Queen

You can see the rest of the beautiful pictures from Family at the Foot of the Cross's May Crowning here.

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King Cake for Epiphany

After seeing Jessica's compilation of Epiphany recipes, I was distressed to realize there was no New Orleans style King Cake included on Catholic Cuisine for Epiphany. Having roots from southern Louisiana, King Cake is a necessity not an option for Epiphany.

"King Cake" is the Louisiana term for the sweet bread served on Epiphany. This is the day that opens up Carnival or Mardi Gras. Most people think that Mardi Gras is only around the beginning of Lent, but it actually begins on 12th Night and ENDS on Tuesday at midnight before Ash Wednesday. Here's an interesting explanation of the King Cake origins.

This excerpt from The Original Picayune Creole Cook Book, fifth edition from 1922:

This is a Creole cake whose history is the history of the famous New Orleans Carnivals celebrated in song and stories. The "King's Cake," or Gateau de Roi, is inseparably connected with the origin of our now world-famed Carnival balls. In fact, they owe their origin to the old Creole custom of choosing a king and queen on King's Day, or Twelfth Night. In old Creole New Orleans, after the inauguration of the Spanish domination and the amalgamation of the French settlers and the Spanish into that peculiarly chivalrous and romantic race, the Louisiana Creole, the French prettily adopted many of the customs of their Spanish relatives, and vice versa. Among these was the traditional Spanish celebration of King's Day, Le Jour des Rois, as the Creoles always term the day. King's Day falls on January 6, or the twelfth day after Christmas, and commemorates the visit of the three Wise Men of the East to the lowly Bethlehem manger. This day Is still even in our time still the Spanish Christmas, when gifts are presented in commemoration of the Kings’ gifts. With the Creoles it became Le Petit Noël, or Little Christmas, and adopting the Spanish custom, there were always grand balls on Twelfth Night; a king and a queen were chosen, and there were constant rounds of festivities, night after night, till the dawn of Ash Wednesday. From January 6, or King's Day, and Mardi Gras Day became the accepted Carnival season. Each week a new king and queen were chosen and no royal rulers ever reigned more happily than did these kings and queens of a week.

It seems almost every country has their own version of an Epiphany cake or bread. I couldn't find all the names or types for all the countries, but here are some highlights, keeping in mind that different regions and families do things a bit differently, so it's hard to make sweeping summaries.

Hispanic Countries: Rosca de los Reyes (Cake of the Kings). This is a fruit and nut filled ring or crown topped with icing and decorations, and bean or tiny doll inserted.

Spain: Roscón de Reyes is a roll that is ring shaped and sometimes filled with chocolate or jelly.

Germany and Switzerland: In both countries the Three Kings Cake is called Dreikönigskuchen and usually a gold crown is placed on top of the cake.

France: Galette (or Gateau) des Roi (or Rois) (Cake of the Kings). Usually this is a round and flat cake, honey-spice or sponge inside. It is decorated with pastry, fruits, or sugared frills. Each cake has a bean, small token or miniature doll inside. A nice tradition: there should be one more piece than the number of guests. The extra portion, la part a Dieu--God's share--is for the first poor person who knocks at the door. The day of the Kings means sharing as well as receiving. Nobody who asks for food or alms will leave empty-handed that day.

England: Twelfth Cake is eaten with Lamb's Wool (mulled ale with roasted apple pulp). Inside the cake are a bean and a pea. The man to find the bean was the King of the part, and the woman with the pea is the Queen.

The Festive Bread Book by Kathy Cutler contains 7 different types of bread or cakes for Epiphany, including ones from Spain, Brazil, Holland and a Twelfth Night Bread of Lady Carcas. This book is OOP. Another book I highly recommend, Celebrations of Bread by Betsy Oppenneer, only has one recipe for Epiphany, Rosca de Reyes.

We usually serve this King Cake as part of our Epiphany family celebration. This recipe is from from La Cucina Egeriana. by Eleanor Bernstein, Ferraro, CSJ and Maria Bettina, from Notre Dame Centre for Pastoral Liturgy, a cookbook that is out-of-print. There is another similar recipe in Bad Catholics Guide to Good Living by John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak. I know Denise is a chef from New Orleans, so this recipe is definitely authentic. Compared to this one, the main difference is that there is no nut filling in her version.

Cake:

2 packages dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar (divided, 1/3 cup plus remaining amount, 2 Tbsp.)
1 stick butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons salt
4 eggs
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons finely grated orange rind
5 cups flour plus 1 cup for kneading surface

Melt 1 stick butter, milk, 1/3 cup sugar and salt in a saucepan. Cool to lukewarm. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar, yeast and water in a large mixing bowl. Let stand until it foams (5-10 minutes). Beat eggs into yeast mixture, then add milk mixture and lemon and orange rinds. Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, reserving 1 cup for the kneading surface. Knead dough until smooth (about 5-10 minutes). Place in large mixing bowl that has been greased. Turn dough once to grease top; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Filling:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Topping:
Either 1 egg beaten or Confectioner's Sugar Icing (see below)
Then 1/3 cup each colored sugar of purple, yellow and green
2 plastic babies (3/4 inch) or 2 red beans

For filling, mix pecans, brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. For topping, tint sugar by mixing in food coloring until desired shade is reached. For purple, use equal amounts of blue and red. (Use just a drop or two at a time).

When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll half into a rectangle 30 x 15 inches (this takes a long time for me, and the dough gets to be very thin). Brush with half of the melted butter and cut into 3 lengthwise strips. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture and pecans on strips, leaving a 1-inch lengthwise strip free for sealing. Fold each strip lengthwise toward the center, sealing the seam. You will now have three 30-inch strips with sugar and nut mixture enclosed in each. Braid the 3 strips and make a circle by joining the ends. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Place each cake on a 10"x15" baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Brush each egg and (optional) sprinkle top with colored sugars, in sequence.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 20 minutes or until cake tests done. Remove from baking sheet immediately so that sugar will not harden. While still warm, place 1 plastic baby or bean in each from underneath the cake.

At this point I add Confectioner's Sugar Icing and then sprinkle colored sugar in different sections of the cakes.

To freeze, wrap cooled cake tightly in plastic wrap. Before serving, remove plastic and thaw. The cake is best if heated slightly before serving.

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St. Elizabeth's Crown

On November 17, our church celebrates the memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. St. Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, and she obediently fulfilled her duties as daughter and wife during her short life. After her husband died, however, St. Elizabeth traded her worldly goods for a life of service to the poor and sick, thus trading her crown of riches for the crown of one of God's chosen. St. Elizabeth shows us how to carry out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, and to put other's needs before our own.

St. Elizabeth is also the patron of bakers, and so it is appropriate to spend some time creating a treat by which to remember her. We enjoy this crown cake to celebrate her feast. The cake itself is a Hungarian family recipe from my husband's family and I dress it up with a thick, white icing and bright gumdrops. I found some extra large gumdrops at my grocer, but small gumdrops are just as pretty. The Hungarian flag is red, white and green -- if you can get a bag of candy with those colors in it.

Hungarian Coffee Cake

1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a Bundt or ring pan.

Combine cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts. Reserve.

Cream butter and granulated sugar.
Add eggs and beat well.
Add vanilla and sour cream and mix.
Add flour and baking powder and beat for a minute or so until well combined.
Spread half of batter into prepared pan.
Sprinkle half of nut mixture over batter (try to avoid getting sugar against the pan).
Spread remaining batter over nut mixture.
Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over the top.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Do not overbake.
Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto a rack or plate.
Cool completely.
Frost with white glaze and top with colorful gumdrops.


Glaze:
2 T. butter, melted
2 c. powdered sugar
2 - 4 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

To prepare the glaze,
mix in a bowl all ingredients until a thick drizzling consistency,
adding a few more drops of milk if necessary.

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Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Crown

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I have often resorted to the bundt cake on feast days because it makes such a lovely crown. On St. Elizabeth of Hungary's feast day, we made a Hungarian jeweled crown and for today's feast day, the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, I made a caramel-glazed buttermilk pound cake into a lovely crown for Our Lady. Not perfect by any stretch, but it will be memorable for the children. After glazing the warm cake, I let it cool, whipped up a bit of decorator frosting and made some large rosettes with a bag and a tip. In the center of each rosette I placed a chocolate-covered caramel (what else?) and then another small rosette.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Crown Cake


3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a bundt pan or 10 inch tube pan

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar. One at time, crack the eggs into a small bowl and add to butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon and the vanilla extracts. Add one cup flour along with baking soda and salt. Add one third of the buttermilk, beating well. Add one cup of flour and 1/3 cup buttermilk and then repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Scrape sides of bowl and beat again until completely smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 80 to 90 minutes (do not open oven door until you are ready to check for doneness). Check for doneness with a toothpick. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Icing

1 c. sugar
1⁄2 c. buttermilk
1⁄2 t. baking soda
1 T. white corn syrup
1⁄4 c. butter
1⁄2 t. vanilla
¼ c. powdered sugar

Combine white sugar, buttermilk, soda, syrup, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a slow boil. Boil without stirring for 5 to 7 minutes, or until icing starts to turn dark. Do NOT allow icing to reach soft ball stage; icing should be caramel in color, but not sticky like caramel. Icing should be easily pourable. Cool for several minutes. Whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Pour through a sieve into a measuring cup with a spout. Slowly drizzle the icing onto the cake, allowing it to drip slowly down the sides. If you want a perfectly smooth finish (which I did not achieve) start at the peak of the cake and drizzle all the way around moving out a tiny bit each time you complete a circle. Do the same inside the peak but do not go back over the same area twice.


To decorate, using stiff decorator's frosting in a bag with a rosette tip (see note below), make a 1-inch wide by 1/2-inch high rosette in six or seven places on the top of the cake (six was about perfect for a bundt cake, but if you used a tube pan you may be able to fit more). Place a chocolate covered caramel on each rosette and then top each caramel with a small rosette. Place in a cool place until serving.


Note: You can using canned frosting or make a small recipe of decorator frosting using 2 T. butter whipped with 1-1/2 cup powdered sugar and several teaspoons milk. Whip until fluffy.


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Quick and Easy Mardi Gras King Cake

Here is one more recipe for making a King Cake tomorrow. I am sure it won't be quite as beautiful or delicious as this one, but if your life has been anything like mine lately, quick and easy might just be necessary! ☺


INGREDIENTS:

• One package ready-to-bake canned cinnamon rolls (8 rolls) with icing (This can be doubled to make a larger cake!)
• Green, Purple, and Yellow decorating sprinkles/sugar crystals

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Open canned cinnamon rolls and separate into individual rolls. Take one individual roll and unroll it to full length. Fold full length of dough in half. Twist (or braid) rope and place on cooking pan. Twist (or braid) second rope and place on the cooking pan end-to-end with the first rope. Continue adding twisted sections of dough until you have made a complete circle. Using your hands, gently move circle of dough into an oval for a more traditional King Cake shape.

Place King Cake into 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove King Cake from oven when it is nice and golden brown.

Before the King Cake begins to cool, spoon a generous amount of icing over the top and sides. Immediately after icing your King Cake, sprinkle the icing with a combination of the purple, gold, and green crystal sprinkles.

Note: You could also use this recipe to make mini king cakes! Follow the directions above, but instead of connecting each of the individual cinnamon rolls together, form the twisted (or braided) roll into a small circle pinching the ends to close. Also, be sure to place the "cakes" far enough apart so that they do not touch on a greased cookie sheet or baking pan.

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King Cake for Mardi Gras

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras or Pancake Day. It is the last day of an unofficial period called "Carnival" which began after Epiphany.

A well know celebration of "Carnival" (which comes from the Latin word carnelevare meaning "taking away of the flesh") is the famous Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The traditional dessert for the day is a King Cake.

King Cakes are made of a cinnamon filled dough, and baked in an oval shape. The cake is topped with a delicious glaze and then sprinkled with colored sugar. The three colors of the sugar are Purple, Green, and Gold (representing Justice, Faith, and Power). A plastic baby (a gold coin may be used as well) is baked inside the King Cake, and the tradition is whoever receives the baby in their piece of cake must buy the next King Cake or throw the next party.

The following recipe and photo was shared by Melissa on her lovely blog Bountiful Blessings. Thank you Melissa!

King Cake

Traditional New Orleans Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups flour unsifted
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest, this is lemon rind, grated
1/2 cup warm milk
5 egg yolks
1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1" plastic baby doll Directions

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes, or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and, using a wooden spoon, slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon at a time) and continue to beat 2 minutes, or until dough can be formed into a medium-soft ball.

Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. While kneading, sprinkle up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic.

Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft-free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down forcefully. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft-free spot for 45 minutes, or until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, you can hide the plastic baby in the cake at this time.

Colored sugars

Green, purple, & yellow paste
12 tablespoons sugar

Squeeze a dot of green paste in palm of hand. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the paste and rub together quickly. Place this mixture on wax paper and wash hands to remove color. Repeat process for other 2 colors. Place aside.

Icing

3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 - 6 tablespoons water

Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow.

Cake is served in 2" - 3" pieces.

Any leftovers could be placed in the freezer to be served on Laetare Sunday as a foretaste of Easter!

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Saint Lucia's Braided Bread

The feast of St. Lucy, a fourth-century martyr, is celebrated on December 13th, also known as Saint Lucia Day. I have really enjoyed learning about the many customs associated with her feast day.

Some of the lovliest St. Lucy Day traditions are Swedish! In Sweden, this special feast is called Luciadagen. Before dawn, the oldest daughter in the family will dress as St. Lucy, wearing a white gown to represent purity , a red sash to represent martyrdom, and a crown of greenery and lit candles. Her little brothers will join her dressed as "starboys" wearing white gowns, cone-shaped hats decorated with gold stars, and carrying star-tipped wants. She will then wake her family and serve them special St. Lucy Day treats such as Lussekatter (St. Lucy's Cats) and Saffron Buns shaped into various shapes.

I have been looking forward to trying out the following recipe for a Braided St. Lucia Crown/Bread ever since I saw it posted by Karen Edmisten last December. At the time I just didn't have time a chance to bake it, so after a quick trip to our local bakery my oldest daughter served Donuts instead... This year I am determined to give it a shot! The recipe sounds fairly easy and it has received rave reviews from Karen, Eileen and Charlotte. Doesn't it look heavenly!?

Photo Courtesy of Karen Edmisten

Saint Lucia's Braided Bread

Source: Family Fun

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 1/4-ounce packages active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 1/2 o 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze and Garnish:

• 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• Candles (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Warm the milk in a small saucepan, then pour 1/2 cup of it into a large bowl.

Add the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and let it set for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in the remaining milk.

Add the butter and milk mixture to the yeast mixture. Whisk in the eggs, juice, 1/4 cup of sugar, orange rind, and salt.

Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough can be gathered into a ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes, adding more flour until the dough is smooth and elastic and does not stick to your hands.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning it once to coat it. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into a 30-inch rope and braid the ropes together.

Transfer the braid to a greased baking sheet, pinch together the ends to form a circle, and let it rise until it has again doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375°. Bake the bread for 25 minutes or until golden brown, then let it cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.

For the glaze, stir together the confectioner's sugar and orange juice in a medium bowl until smooth.

Drizzle the glaze mix over the bread, then garnish with the cranberries. Finally, add candles, if you'd like. Serves 12.

Hear us, O God, our salvation, that, as we rejoice in keeping the festival of Blessed Lucy, thy virgin and martyr, so we may profit by the tender devotion we gain through her example. Through our Lord. Amen.

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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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