Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015....

Today is Mardi Gras.  That is French for "fat Tuesday."  Some call today Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins (Ash Wednesday).  The celebration on this day brings to an end a long carnival season that began on Epiphany.  It actually goes back to an ancient Roman custom of merrymaking before a period of fast.  

Not intending this to be a history lesson, I will get right to the matter at hand - Mardi Gras King Cake!


Now, this recipe came right off the Internet, so you will be able to find it readily, if you wish to try baking it.

Ready to spend an hour in the refrigerator.

After an hour on "cold storage."

Braided and ready to rise an hour.

Out of the oven and ready to cool.

At this point, I varied from the recipe suggestions.  As The Husband is going to be eating most of this, and he is not fond of glaze topped with colored sugars, I sprinkled powdered sugar on top, then adorned it (for picture purposes) with the traditional purple, green, and gold.

There is a gold crown "plopped" down in the center, and there is also a plastic baby tucked somewhere in the cake.

The colors have significance.  Purple indicates justice, green is for faith, and gold represents power.

This was a good project for a day that looked like this out our front door at 2:00 p.m. -


That is an accumulation of sleet/ice - NOT snow!

At 9:00 a.m. this morning, this is the same view -


There was a bit of snow overnight on top of that sleet/ice.  This is the first winter weather we have had here.

I send wishes for a happy Shrove Tuesday!  

18 comments:

  1. My hat is off to you for going to all that trouble, and I'm sure that cake is delicious! The views out your door are chilling, but not too different from ours. Traffic seems to be ok, except for one car that kept spinning and could not get going, even with three guys pushing it! I guess he'll stay home today! Have a terrific Tuesday, Sister!

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  2. Your King Cake looks good enough to be on the cover of a magazine. It looks so delicious with a nice cup of tea.

    Happy Shrove Tuesday.

    I'm heading home this evening, back to mountains of deep snow.

    Stay safe Nellie.
    Hugs,
    JB

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  3. I'll take the king cake, you keep the ice and snow! The only white stuff I'm interested in, is powdered sugar!

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    1. Winter was late arriving, and it seems determined to "make a statement" while it is around. More cold is expected next week!

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  4. I'm yet to make a King Cake, Nellie. Yours looks gorgeous!!! Picture perfect:)

    We had a bit of snow last night. Just enough to put a topping on the mounds we've been getting. However, the sun is shining and I actually hear drip, drip out my window, signaling the snow might be trying to melt, a little anyway.

    Enjoy, Nellie...and thanks for sharing...

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  5. This looks like a lovely cake and a great Mardi gras tradition. I usually have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. I also blogged about an old legend set on Mardi gras.

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  6. Wow, the cake looks delicious Nellie, this is the first time I've even heard of Mardi Gras King cake !
    It looks like you have the same cold front as Middle Tennessee, the ice is horrific, even Nashville is closed....lol
    Stay safe!
    ~Jo

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    1. I am not receiving notices of your comments in my email.:-( I'm going to have to check my blog more closely. Yes, the ice is truly terrible!

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  7. The entire time I lived in New Orleans, I would eat King Cake during Mardi Gras --but I never ever liked it much... Still don't... BUT--we did love Mardi Gras when we lived there. We loved the parades and all of the hoop-la....

    We had that BIG Ice Storm up here yesterday with some snow over night.... Supposed to snow again tonight/tomorrow. Since we have an inch of ice under everything here, we are staying HOME this week.. Cancelled a couple of appointments we had... Just don't want to get out in that slick, dangerous stuff... All I would need to do is to re-injure that knee... YIPES.

    Stay warm and stay safe.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  8. That looks good, Nellie! Did you bake a baby in it? I always think that is so funny to do that. xo Diana

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  9. Wow. That looks really good. Sorry you got that ice and snow. My daughter sent pictures and they had it too in Georgia. Love the fact you baked the baby! For you think hubby will get it??

    Blessings,
    Gert

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  10. I've made King Cake for a number of years now, but I never braided mine like you did yours. Instead, I rolled the filling inside it and fitted it into a tube pan. My guys love the glaze and colored sugar, so we go that way!

    I sympathize with your snow and ice. Winter was slow in arriving, and has ferociously made up for its tardiness ever since!

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  11. That looks so good. So cool how it is braided.

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  12. Good heavens, that looks delicious and beautiful.

    Love,
    Janie

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  13. Lots of snow here, more frigid temps to come.
    I've seen the cake before, but never tried making one.
    I love the look of the braid!

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  14. What a fancy bread, Nellie! A beautiful job.

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  15. What a fancy bread, Nellie! A beautiful job.

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