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A MOVEABLE FEAST The Mardi Gras season begins on the Twelfth Night after Christmas. It is known as Epiphany or King's Day which celebrates the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem. It is the custom in New Orleans to eat King Cake during the Mardi Gras season and particularly on King's Day. History and Traditions of Mardi Gras - Many forms of the Mardi Gras festival are celebrated throughout the world. From the Carnival celebrations of Rio and Venius to the Mardi Gras festivals of Paris and New Orleans it is a time of the year when many corners of the World revel in merriment. Mardi Gras can occur on any Tuesday from February 3 through March 9. The fluctuating date was established by the Catholic Church, which designed the Gregorian calendar with a fixed date for Christmas, but with moveable dates for other religious holidays. Easter can fall on any Sunday from March 23 to April 25, and its exact date was set to coincide with the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring Equinox. Mardi Gras is always scheduled 47 days preceding Easter (the 40 days of Lent, plus seven Sundays).But Mardi Gras roots predate the French. Many see a relationship to the ancient tribal rituals of fertility that welcomed the arrival of Spring. Beads, jewelry, gold, and trinkets have always been associated with friendship and comrodery of the event. In the late 1700's pre-Lenten balls and fetes were held in New Orleans. Under French rule masked balls flourished, but were later banned by the Spanish governors. The prohibition continued when New Orleans became an American city in 1803, but by 1823, the Creole populace prevailed upon the American governor, and balls (or masked parties) were again permitted. Four years later street masking was legalized and thus them American tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras was begun. Since Rex, the first King of the Carnival in New Orleans, selected them in 1872, the official colors of Mardi Gras have been purple, gold and green. While they were probably chosen simply because they looked good together. Rex assigned a meaning to each in his 1892 parade, entitled "Symbolism of Colors". Purple represents justice, green stands for faith, and gold signifies power. Some traditions associated with Mardi Gras include: the selection of the "Court" - the King, Queen, maids, and dukes of a Carnival organization. "Doubloons" are often given or sold by Krewes who work as a non-profit group who help the community and provide enjoyment to others. The "King Cake" is a favorite tradition of the Carnival season in New Orleans. More than 750,000 king cakes are annually consumed in the metro New Orleans area during this time. Also, Mardi Gras would not be complete if one did not take part in the collecting or sharing of beads. So if you're new to the Mardi Gras tradition, you're invited to participate by celebrating the Carnival season and sharing the spirit of friendship and camraderie. Ingredients
Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place, for ten minutes or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles up in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Seperate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yueast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and using a wooden spoon slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter, 1 talblesppon at a time and continue to beat 2 minutes or until dough can be formed into a medium soft ball. Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. During this kneading, add up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) sprinked over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic. Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft fre e spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside. Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using you fist, punch dough down with a heavy blow. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft free spot for 45 minutes until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, at this time, you can "hide" the plastic baby in the cake. Colored sugars
Icing
Cake is served in 2" - 3" pieces. |
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