Kick-Up Your King Cakes

Fat Tuesday is quickly approaching, ladies and gents.  Have you been thinking about how to decorate your King Cakes?

For those of you who have never participated in this New Orleans tradition, the King Cake originated from a Catholic festival.  The King's Cake (as it was called) symbolizes the journey of the Three Kings to Bethlehem.  According to the story, they traveled for 12 days, arriving at Bethlehem on the day in which we celebrate Mardi Gras.  French and Spanish settlers introduced this custom to the New Orleans region, and this sweet and spicy confection has been a mainstay of Carnival cuisine ever since.

Not sure how to decorate a King Cake?  It's very simple -- and a lot of fun!  Mel-O-Cream provides customers with everything they need in a King Cake Kit, complete with multicolored sugars, beads, and the obligatory plastic baby.  If you don't have the kit, here's what you'll need:

• King Cake dough
• Flat White Icing
• Sugars in traditional Mardi Gras colors, such as gold, green, purple, and magenta
• Strands of plastic beads
• The Plastic Baby

Note:  The Baby is the quintessential decoration of the King Cake.  In some traditions, finding the baby inside the cake is good luck and the recipient is granted a wish.  Others consider the plastic baby to connote the Baby Jesus.  While others insist that this is just the most interesting part of the King Cake.  So beware - no baby could mean dissatisfied Mardi Gras enthusiasts!

The most important thing to remember about Mardi Gras is that you are encouraged to indulge that sweet tooth.  So get carried away with your King Cake: slather on those sugars and embellish with beads!  After all, it's only once a year, right?