"king cake" news and stories

• Need a king cake for Mardi Gras? Here's the city's royal roundup.
• ... Or perhaps you'd like to make your own king cake.
• Where's the beef? Nowhere to be found during Lent, so eat up now.
• Speaking of meat, here's a classic recipe: tournedos Provencale, a Commander's Palace staple in the 1970s.
• After Ash Wednesday, whip up this Thomas Keller-inspired macaroni gratin recipe. Lent will fly by.

If you're lucky, you've tried it and found the baby.

Carnival means it's king cake season in New Orleans. Rings of the gold, purple and green sugary delights have cropped up all over the Crescent City, but they've likely come to your neighborhood too, as Louisiana natives -- many of whom relocated after Hurricane Katrina -- celebrate Mardi Gras (on Feb. 24 in 2009) with the king cake and its hidden plastic baby.

"It's a very interesting time for the king cake," says Chef John Folse, an expert on Cajun and Creole cuisine. His Gonzales, La., company is part of a growing number of bakeries that sell king cakes nationwide.

King Cake is a staple of Mardi Gras celebrations. The pastry is made with a rich, brioche-like dough that is light in texture, but made with plenty of butter and eggs, and wrapped around a decadent filling of either cream cheese or marzipan. Usually shaped in a round, the cake is frosted with tri-colored icing: purple to represent justice, green to represent faith, and gold to represent power. Amanda and Tyler (the cook and the eater, respectively) from What We're Eating baked up a decadent Mixed Berry & Cream Cheese King Cake to celebrate the season, filled with a combination of berries, cream cheese and sour cream for a sweet, fruity take on the seasonal favorite. The berries are actually cooked with sugar to form a quick jam, which is layered with the cheese mixture inside the cake. King Cakes can be eaten for breakfast or dessert, and this one seems like a prime candidate for the former category.

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If you’re not familiar with New Orleans food terms, Mardi Gras can be a confusing time because their cuisine is in the spotlight. We’ve covered King Cake and Jambalaya, but there are so many others. NewOrleansRestaurants.com has put together a list of the local lingo, complete with definitions of anything you might encounter when dining down in the Big Easy. The pronunciation guide is especially helpful to anyone who will be traveling through the area. Examples include:

• Beignet (ben yay') - Lighter than a doughnut, and square (no holes), sprinkled with powdered sugar
• Crawfish (craw' fish) - Fresh water shellfish, also known as "mudbugs" from the bayous!
• Muffuletta (Muf' a lotta) - And a lotta it is! Super-large, round, fat sandwich filled with salami-type meats, mozzarella cheese, pickles, and olive salad.
• Praline (Praw leen') Brown sugar, pecan-filled, candy patty.

And if you’re looking for non-food terms that might help you out on your travels, ExperienceNewOrleans.com has plenty, and you’ll soon know your bayous from your Boogalees.

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The traditional King Cake is a ring of rich pastry, similar to brioche or Danish pastry, which is filled with a rich filling, like cream cheese, marzipan or a buttery cinnamon mixture. The cake is frosted with brightly colored icing: purple to represent justice, green to represent faith, and gold to represent power. King Cakes are served some time between Epiphany and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras and can be eaten with breakfast or as a dessert.