Believe i or not it's still the Christmas season. it ends with Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day. It's still a time to celebrate especially with sweets. One that's held true for millennia is King's Cake, a delicious marriage of a sweet bread like cake and icing. It's served up until Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday.
Kayla Stewart , a regular contributor to the New York Times Food section and The Bittman Project explored this New Orleans classic in today's section. King Cake is most associated with Epiphany, or January 6th the day the Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for the Christ Child.In heavily Catholic New Orleans it is also the start of the pre-Lenten festivities leading up to the wild Carnivale season. However according to author and culinary pod caster Poppy Tooker, the treat's roots go way back to ancient Rome.It looks to the Saturnalia festival that was held in what is now mid December. Cakes were baked to honor Saturn the god of agriculture. A bean was baked into it, much like a King Cake. when paganism died , the Church adapted a lot of the customs.The cake is so revered in the city that it's a sacrllege to eat it before January 6th. Until the 18th century the cake was eaten only on that day , then it expanded to the days before ash Wednesday. In the early 1900's carnival krewes began to host balls where the cake was being served. The recipe was heavily influenced by 18th century French and Spanish colonists. They were oval shaped brioches with a topping of sugary crystals.
Today they resemble Danishes, and Ms. Stewart supplies the recipe for Dominick Lee's caramelized apple one. Imagine a brioche crossed with an apple pie and topped with a rich cream cheese frosting. This is a flavorful treat to be enjoyed until March 2nd - Ash Wednesday. You can make it with guava which is what Jose Castillo makes at his Norma's Sweets Bakery. His family came from Honduras where the fruit was as common as strawberries. He fell in love with the cake as a five year old first tasting it in his class. His version has a layer of guava and cream cheese along with a light layer of frosting. This creates a cake with a subtle sweetness and a crisp fruity bite. Then there's Dong Phuong Bakery , opened and run by Linh Garza. Her mother Huong Tran uses a brioche recipe, a possible holdover from the French rule on the country.It makes for a fluffy bite topped with the traditional icing. You can order from them if you don;t feel like baking. Brennan's Restaurant also sells them. Theirs has a hot of cinnamon and butter . You can also go to King Cake Hub to find a bakery. This was started by Jennifer Samuels and her late husband Will to cut down on the confusion finding the best bakery.
Celebrate Three King's day and the days leading up to Ash Wednesday with this rich treat. Enjoy its' lush icing and buttery breadlike cake. It's the perfect way to enjoy a sweet and extend the holiday.
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