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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Nativity Cookies

It has been a little busy around our home these past few weeks since, in addition to celebrating Christmas, we also welcomed home our 6th little one who was due on Christmas Day, but arrived a bit early, on December 15th! Our precious Christmas "Rose" was born with a few little heart defects, but since her baptism this past Monday, the doctor was no longer able to hear her heart murmur! The power of prayer and the graces from the sacraments are truly amazing! She has another echocardiogram scheduled for the 2nd of February where we will see if her heart has healed.

Anyhow, I am currently working on compiling a post with recipes for January from the archives, and also wanted to share these Nativity Cookies we made just before Christmas. (Though we never did get around to putting the stable together!) These would also be great to make for the upcoming feast of Epiphany!

Here's what you need:

• Nativity Cookie Cutter Bake Set
• Cut-Out Cookie Dough (We used the delicious recipe below.)
• Decorations: Icing, Sprinkles, Etc... (We "Painted" our Cookies!)

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely and decorate.

NOTE: We made the "paint" using powdered sugar, milk and various colors of food coloring. You need to make it thin enough to where it spreads easily, but not so thin that it soaks the cookies or runs off the edges.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and
a very Blessed New Year!

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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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Galette des Rois

Here is a tasty version of the traditional French Kings’ Cake, complete with a hidden feve inside, to celebrate Epiphany. It is surprisingly easy, made with frozen puff pastry and a rich, creamy filling made with either purchased or no-fuss homemade almond paste. And it looks like it came from a fancy bakery!

I found several versions of this cake recipe online, and they are all very similar. While I don’t claim that my result is exactly “authentic” from a traditional French Cuisine perspective, it makes for a beautiful presentation, and was fun to share at our Epiphany Dinner Celebration! (It would make an excellent brunch pastry, as well!)

The feve, by the way, is a small dried bean or ceramic figure – we used a little ceramic animal found in a tea box – that is hidden in the cake before it is baked. The cake is traditionally topped with a paper crown: Whoever finds the feve puts on the crown and is King for the Day!

Ingredients:
1 recipe almond paste (simple recipe follows), or ½ c purchased almond paste
¼ c granulated sugar
3 T unsalted butter
1 egg
¼ t vanilla extract
¼ t almond extract
2 T all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 (17.3 oz) pkg frozen puff pastry (thawed out of the package for about 40 minutes at room temperature)
1 dried bean or tiny toy (don’t forget to tell people it’s there – and watch small children!)
Egg wash (1 egg plus 1 T water, beaten together)
1-2 T white sugar
1-2 T sliced almonds, unsalted
Golden Paper Crown (traditional)

Almond Paste:
½ c unsalted slivered almonds
¼ c 10x sugar
¼ c granulated sugar
¼ t almond extract
2-3 T water

In a food processor, process almonds until a fine powder. Add sugars and extract, and blend thoroughly. Add enough water to make a paste consistency. Refrigerate until ready to use in above recipe.

Directions for Pastry:
Place prepared almond paste into a food processor. Add about half of the sugar, and process until well-blended. Add butter and remaining sugar, and process until smooth; blend in 1 egg, vanilla, almond extract, flour and salt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.

Dust the parchment lightly with flour, and unfold one sheet of pastry onto it. Roll lightly in all directions, from the center out, until you have an 11” square. Using any circular dish or pan that measures about 11” across, trace a circle onto the dough with the tip of a sharp knife. Remove excess dough, and place pan in refrigerator.

Prepare second sheet on a cutting board in the same way, dusting with flour, rolling out and tracing a circle. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Take first sheet out of the refrigerator.

Place the almond filling over the pastry circle, spreading to about 1-1/2” from the edge. Place the bean or feve into the filling. Remove top sheet from the refrigerator and place atop the filling, lightly pressing edges to seal.

Brush the top crust with the egg wash (using about ½ of the prepared wash); then score in a diamond pattern all across the top. Make several small slits to allow steam to escape (if you scored a little too deeply in a few spots, this will suffice!)

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. (Caution! Any peeking during this time will result in under-puffed pastry!) Remove from the oven, and brush lightly one more time with remaining egg wash. Sprinkle with almonds and sugar. (The almonds and granulated sugar are not a traditional topping for this cake, though it’s gorgeous and flavorful! As an alternative, you can skip the second egg wash and sprinkle the top with 1 T of 10x sugar instead at this point, which will glaze the top and really show off your cut pattern!)

Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the top is a deep, golden brown.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool (I used a cookie sheet to facilitate this).

Finally, set a crown atop (or, as we did, beside) the cake. We made a game of choosing slices: I cut the pastry into six equal slices (for the six of us at home, of course), and then, starting with the youngest, let each person choose a slice. (Use your best poker face while you slice, lest you inadvertently discover – and give away! – the location of the feve!) When everyone had a slice, we all lightly poked our slices with a fork to see who would be King for the rest of the night! (Then I quickly cut the children’s slices in half before they started eating, and saved the rest – this is pretty rich!)

Makes 12 servings.

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Gift of the Magi Bread

This rich banana bread is filled with treasures -- mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips, dates or raisins -- that remind us of the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that the three Magi presented to the Christ Child over 2000 years ago.

Gift of the Magi Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup sliced almonds, divided
1/2 cup chopped dates or raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans, or 6 or 7 mini loaf pans.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the mashed bananas to the creamed mixture. Stir in the mandarin oranges, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, only 1/2 cup almonds, cherries and dates or raisins.

Pour into the two greased loaf pans or mini-loaf pans. Sprinkle the top with remaining almonds. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing bread from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

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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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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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