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).

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[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.

In fact, if you’ve never made fudge, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is.

By the way, March 14th is White Day in Japan, a tradition where men reciprocate the gifts they received from women on Valentine’s Day, typically with sweets. So men: Get cooking!

Below:

> Pistachio overview.

> The fudge recipe.

> More pistachio recipes.

> The the year’s 5 fudge holidays.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of fudge.

> The history of pistachio nuts.

> The year’s 38 nut holidays.

> The year’s 60+ candy holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: WHITE CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO FUDGE WITH
CRANBERRIES

This recipe is adadpted 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

 
 
PISTACHIOS FROM CALIFORNIA

While pistachio fudge doesn’t count as health food, the nuts themselves are nutritious. And California produces the best pistachios in the world!
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.

[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.

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.

 
THE YEAR’S 5 FUDGE HOLIDAYS

 
Plus:

 

[5] Instead of cranberries, you can use any dried fruit. Here, it’s apricots. The recipe (photo © Taste Of Home).
 

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