Mardi Gras is upon us and that means that king cakes are being baked. Louisiana king cakes are a cross between coffee cake and a French pastry, and theyre baked starting from the Epiphany (January 6) until Fat Tuesday, the last day before lent. Theyre often decorated with green, yellow and purple sugars, and theyre baked with a plastic baby hidden inside which is supposed to symbolize baby Jesus.
Putting a choking hazard inside a cake might sound strange to you, but its a tradition that started centuries ago in old world Europe.
The tradition didnt start with plastic babies, but instead began during ancient pagan festivals, when a bean was hidden inside a cake.Later,in medieval France, the cakebecame associated with Christianity and the Epiphanywhen they branded it thegalette des rois (which literally translates into king cake).
Legend has it that if you receive the piece of cake with the bean in it which later became a plastic baby you get to be king for the day. These days, it also means that youre responsible for buying next years cake.
The French brought their king cake with them to Louisiana when they came to the Americas. The bean or hidden in the cake became a baby in the 1950s when McKenzies a famous local bakery was approached by a traveling salesman who had too many plastic babies on his hands. The idea stuck, and a new tradition was started.
The cake is not only baked with a baby inside though these days the baby is often added at the end but it is colored purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power which arethe official colors of Mardi Gras. If youre not planning on heading to a real Mardi Gras celebration this year, consider hosting your own and baking up a king cake with or without a plastic baby. Here are a few recipes to inspire you:
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