A King Cake For Twelth Night

 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.

Red Velvet Overload?

Like fashion and technology food has trends.Foodie's and even gourmets go mad for the latest tidbit.This is happening with red velvet cake.Has it peaked? Are we ready to move on to something new or fall back on good old chocolate and vanilla? It was the subject of an article in yesterday's New York Times Dining section. Kim Severson questioned and researched this.Red velvet cake is a Southern specialty,originally made by adding vinegar to scratch chocolate cake.Even this theory is debatable.Velvet cakes came about in the 1800s.Almond flour, cocoa or cornstarch were added to soften the protein in flour and make finer crumbed cakes also known as velvets.This led to mahogany cake which is a blended batter of buttermilk, vinegar and cocoa.It also is the recipe for devils food cake.Adding the highly acidic and volatile vinegar could be the reason for the brownish red color.However it could also come from the added brown sugar once called red sugar.Another is that it also is just a chocolate cake with red food coloring added.Many believe that cake mix magnate John Adams and his wife ,Betty, created it for mass consumption in the Forties trying the cake at the famed Waldorf Astoria in New York City.After September 11th, people wanted comfort food and childhood favorites to deal with the sadness and fear .Red velvet cake filled that need and then it and it's, variations,from Pop Tarts to even fried chicken coating proliferated. Ms. Severson includes two recipes.One involves using red beets for the coloring.The other calls for two tablespoons of red food coloring.To be honest I would go with the more natural recipe.The beets are pureed and add more nutrients to a decadent recipe.If you want icing , go for a light fluffy one.The first one with the article is called ermine icing, a buttercream that has a white roux as a base.It requires some cooking, namely heating up the milk and flour together on a saucepan.It has to cool overnight and have a Saran wrap covering to prevent a skin from forming.You could make the ubiquitous cream cheese one that all red velvets had.This came about from the carrot cake craze of the 1970,s.One is also included and is easier to make than the ermine one.The cake can also be just dusted with plain confectioner's sugar.This is a nice way of letting the deep ,rich chocolate flavors shine through.You could also serve it plain with a homemade cream cheese ice cream( check the Web for the recipe). Red velvet cake is classic ,as well as being a trend.Hiptsers and foodie's may become tired of it but it will still be around.Enjoy it, not for that reason.Enjoy it because it is a delicious chocolate cake, perfect for dessert,even better for a snack.