Will you be celebrating Mardi Gras on March 6th?

If you hadn’t planned to, perhaps this fun food dessert project will appeal to you.

Your challenge: to create your own version of King Cake, the staple Mardi Gras dessert (the history of Mardi Gras).

Or bake this recipe from scratch.

Or, make your favorite bundt with tri-colored boiled icing. Or cupcakes, with colored batter and/or variously iced in green, gold and purple.

It could be any type of cake, cheesecake, a cream pie, cookies, trifle, pastry…. Apply a King Cake theme to one of your favorite desserts.
 
 
WHAT IS KING CAKE?

The King Cake (photo #1) is a Mardi Gras tradition in New Orleans, made only during this time of year. Just about every bakery sells the cake. Fans all over the country purchase the cakes by mail order.

You can make a classic King Cake with this kit from King Arthur Flour.

King cake is typically a Danish yeast ring (some are elaborately braided), brioche or cinnamon bread. It is covered by a poured white icing and sprinkled with purple, green and gold colored sugar.

What makes a King Cake fun is the hidden charm—originally a baby, representing baby Jesus and now any charm you like.

SAFETY NOTE: To avoid broken teeth on a coin, or accidentally swallowing a small charm, choose your charm wisely.

And don’t bake a plastic charm in the cake: It will melt. Inserting a plastic charm from the bottom of the baked cake is the best way to go. (Poke a hole in the underside and insert the charm.)

The person who gets the slice with the charm gets luck and prosperity for the year. In some traditions is given a gold cardboard crown (the Epiphany Cake tradition) and becomes “king” or “queen” for the day.

 
If you’d like to understand more about it, here’s the history of King Cake.
 
 
HOW WILL YOUR INTERPRETATION TAKE SHAPE?

Whatever you make, use the three Mardi Gras colors (green, gold and purple). You can do this, for example, with:

 
Here are some ideas.

 
And, it doesn’t have to be sweet. In Spain, Roscón de Reyes (or rosca de reyes—ring of the kings) is traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany. You can add the Mardi Gras colors to create King Cake’s brother, King Bread.

Consider a savory bread filled or topped with yellow, green and purple bell peppers (photo #6).
 
 
MARDI GRAS RECIPES

[1] Classic King Cake: a yeast ring with boiled white icing and tri-color sprinkles (photo courtesy Hudson Chocolates).

[2] A deconstructed King Cake, a fun variation and a way to show your creativity. Note that the baby is standing on top of the cake (photo courtesy Restaurant Revolution | NOLA).

[3] Many cookies are just waiting to be decorated in green, gold and purple. Here’s the recipe for these spritz cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories.

[4] You don’t have to be an expert baker to create your King Cake interpretation. These peanut butter cookies were transformed with food color (photo courtesy Jif).

[5] Tri-color macarons (photo courtesy Sucre | NOLA).

[6] A savory bread ring with Mardi Gras colors: King Bread (photo courtesy Tres Pupusas).

[1] Strawberry tiramisu. The recipe is below (photo courtesy King Arthur Flour).

[2] Variations: tiramisu made in a bowl, topped with mixed berries, to be scooped instead of sliced (photo courtesy Mozzarella Company).

[3] Classic tiramisu, made with (among other ingredients) espresso, coffee liqueur, marsala and ladyfingers, topped with cocoa powder. Here’s the recipe from Baking A Moment.

Tiramisu, the very popular Italian dessert, is made with espresso and coffee liqueur (here’s the recipe, and the history of tiramisu).

But February 27th is National Strawberry Day, so how about a strawberry tiramisu?

Wait: Is it still tiramisu without the espresso and coffee liqueur? After all, the translation of tiramisu is “pick me up,” referring to the caffeine in the coffee ingredients (although there’s not very much caffeine in a portion).

Our answer is yes. The formula for tiramisu has been followed, with flavor substitutions.

 
 
RECIPE: BERRY-CITRUS TIRAMISU

This recipe, a riff on classic tiramisu, was developed by P.J. Hamel, a recipe developer and writer at King Arthur Flour.

If your grocer carries ladyfingers, you can use them instead of the sponge cake. They’re a time saver, but not available everywhere.

You can use a single berry variety or mixed berries. Prep time is 35 to 45 minutes, bake time is 20 to 23 minutes.
 
Ingredients For A 9″ Cake (16 Servings)

For The Sponge Cake

 
For The Citrus Soaking Syrup

 
For The Citrus Cream Filling

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and line two 9″ square pans with parchment.

2. MAKE the cake: Combine the eggs, sugar and almond extract in a mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until the eggs thicken and lighten in color, about 5 minutes.

4. POUR the batter into the prepared pans. Bake the cake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and place on racks to cool in the pan completely.

5. MAKE the syrup: Combine all of the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for one minute, or until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat, strain, and set aside to cool.

6. MAKE the filling: In a small bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese and orange zest. Gradually stir in the heavy cream until the mixture is smooth and thick. Stir in the confectioners sugar. The syrup and cream can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until the cake is ready to assemble.

7. ASSEMBLE the cake: Place one cake layer on a serving platter and brush it with the syrup. Allow the syrup to soak in, then apply more. You’ll use about half of the syrup for the first layer.

8. SPREAD half of the sliced berries over the moist cake. Dollop on half of the cream filling, and spread in an even layer. Top with the second layer of cake, repeating the soaking process. Spread with the remaining cream filling, then top with the last of the berries. (If you prefer, individual servings can be topped with whole berries.)

9. REFRIGERATE the cake for at least an hour or overnight, before serving. You can store any leftover cake in the refrigerator for up to 2 days; but tiramisu is best enjoyed within 24 hours of making it. Freezing is not recommended.
 
 
Variations & Tips

February 26th is National Pistachio Day.

Long, long ago, if we had been a good girl, Mom would take us to Howard Johnson’s for a pistachio hot fudge sundae.

Howard Johnson’s is long gone, and it isn’t easy to find pistachio ice cream. But here’s an easy recipe for pistachio fudge.
 
 
PISTACHIOS FROM CALIFORNIA

California’s Santa Barbara County is an oasis of rolling hills, ancient oak trees and cattle ranches. It boasts more than 60 wineries and 21,000 acres of vines under cultivation.

With such neighbors, the lovely family-farmed pistachio orchards that make Santa Barbara County America’s pistachio capital, might feel like so much chopped liver…if the nuts weren’t equally as noteworthy (nutworthy?). The area grows the best pistachios in the world.

Pistachios are a nut bargain:

 
We’re not going to tell you that the pistachio fudge recipe below is health food, but the fudge is delicious.

 
 
RECIPE: WHITE CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO FUDGE WITH
CRANBERRIES

This recipe is addepted from Just A Pinch.

If you like a sweet-and-salty profile, use salted pistachios.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COAT a 9″ square cake pan with cooking spray and set aside. Melt the chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk in a heavy-bottomed pot over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth; then immediately remove from the heat.

2. STIR in the cranberries, pistachios and vanilla. Spread into the pan and smooth the top. Let cool to room temperature (or chill), then cut into squares.
 
 
MORE PISTACHIO RECIPES

[1] White chocolate pistachio fudge (photo via Seduction Meals).

[2] Add some Baileys Irish Cream. Here’s the recipe from Eat Good 4 Life.

[3] Add some cranberries. Here’s the recipe from Taste And Tell Blog.

[4] Premium pistachios from Murray’s Cheese.

[1] For lunch, top hummus with a Greek salad (photo courtesy DeLallo Foods).

[2] Another way to plate. You can create variety with chopping techniques: dicing, julienning, shaving, spiralizing, etc. (photo courtesy DeLallo Foods).

[3] A “rainbow salad” topped with flavored hummus (photo courtesy Bush’s Beans).

Most Americans enjoy hummus as a dip. That’s how we served it last night for Oscar fare, with crudités and pita chips.

But we also like hummus as a luncheon dish, with a variety of salad toppings. You can also set it up as a DIY buffet.

Today’s tip: Add hummus to Greek salad ingredients. Here’s what you need for your dish.
 
RECIPE: HUMMUS SALAD

Ingredients

 
Whatever Else You Like

 
For A Layered Salad

Instead of all hummus, divide the bottom layer into:

 
Serve with a side of pita, or turn pita chips into croutons for the salad.
 
 
MORE WAYS TO USE HUMMUS

THE HISTORY OF HUMMUS

________________

*For more flavor, mixed chopped dill and/or scallions or chives into the yogurt. If you have it, add a bit of lemon zest.

[1] Have a cherry juice tonic to celebrate Washington’s birthday (photo © Liv Friis-Larsen | iStock Photo).

[2] Cherry pie is always welcome. Here’s the recipe for this beauty. February 20th is National Cherry Pie Day (photo © Cherry Marketing Institute).

[3] Cherry cheesecake with chocolate glaze. (Here’s the recipe from Betty Crocker. April 23rd is National Cherry Cheesecake Day (photo © Betty Crocker).

[4] Cherries Jubilee, created for Queen Victoria. Here’s the recipe (photo © Roberts Dairy).

[5] Cherry almond rugelach. Here’s the recipe (photo © QVC).

The recipes are below. But first, a word about America’s first president, George Washington, born on February 22nd, 1732. While we now know the story about the cherry tree to be a myth, the tradition of enjoying a cherry pie or other cherry foods doesn’t have to get tossed out with it.

If you follow American history, you may know that a number of facts attributed to George Washington were made up after his death.

 
Celebrate with the Cherry Tonic mocktail recipe (photo #1) that follows the list of cherry holidays. There are even more cherry recipes below.
 
 
CHERRY HOLIDAYS

 
 
RECIPE: CHERRY TONIC (MOCKTAIL)

Celebrate the day with this Cherry Tonic (photo #1). You can adjust the proportions of the drink to please your palate. For a deeper cherry flavor, use more cherry juice and less tonic water.

You can make the drink alcoholic with gin, tequila, or vodka.

If you prefer a beer: George Washington brewed his own, including pumpkin ale. He also enjoyed hot chocolate and egg nog.

Ingredients

 
Preparation Per Drink

1. ADD ice to a highball glass. If using cherries, place 4 or 5 of them on top of the ice.

2. POUR in a tonic water, to 2/3 of the way up the glass.

3. TOP off with tart cherry juice (our favorite is R. W. Knudsen Organic Just Tart Cherry juice). Stir.

4. GARNISH with a lime wedge and serve.
 
 
MORE CHERRY RECIPES & FACTS