Maw di Graw

Tuesday, for those down with Catholic Tradition, New Orleans Culture or an appreciation of both, is Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday for those who no speak frenchie). A cardinal element of the New Orleans Carnival season is the King Cake. Not a true cake, this is more like a pastry. Call it a cousin to the cheese danish and you'll be pretty close to texture and flavor. In New Orleans the tradition is to hide a plastic baby in the cooked pastry ring. The person who gets the baby in their piece is supposed to have good luck for the following year. They are also on the hook for buying the next cake.

Lawboi went to Tulane School of Law, which meant a three year tour of duty in NOLA. One thing he never tires of rambling on about is the parade of king cakes which flood offices from January 6th until Lent. My first king's cake was not exactly successful. It was a giant domed bread, with cakey grain. Wrong Wrong Wrong. The second one was an improvement, at least I got it into a ring shape. By the third year I'd figured out how to work the dough and I got a flakey ring. By that time I'd discovered that you've got to twist the dough like curly telephone cord to get the right result. I don't keep little naked Jesus babies around the house, so I use a coin to hide. Yes, I wash it first.

I'm trying to decide if I want to make one this year. Because you're working with brioche dough, a king's cake is time consuming. But they are also tasty and it would make lawboi happy. I could probably even dig through my coin jar and find a quarter featuring Louisiana.

If you couldn't afford the airfare to NOLA this year, you could have your own little Mardi Gras at home. Beads from the party store, hurricanes in the blender and a king's cake in the oven would just about do it.

I believe the recipe I use is this one, from Emeril Legasse.
This site shows great step by step pictures and has a recipe. I wish it had been around when I first started making these.

Note that many of these recipes make a two cakes so read carefully and halve items as you see fit. I use a lemon juice-powdered sugar glaze to add some flavor and the colored sugar adheres to it nicely. I also put nutmeg in the brioche dough. That perks the flavor up as well.