We are nibbling on a King Cake from Haydel's Bakery in New Orleans today. The King Cake is an oval shaped coffee cake with cinnamon and frosting in the Mardi Gras colors -- gold for power, green for faith, and purple for justice.
The porcelain street car in the center of the ring is a collectible sent by the bakery along with beads, the cake, a poster and other Mardi Gras goodies. There is a tiny plastic baby baked into the cake (years ago, bakers used a coin) and whomever gets the slice with the baby must host a party or, in some traditions, is crowned king or queen.
The King Cake has its roots in Epiphany, the traditional time of the coming of the three wise men. A King Cake may be eaten anytime between Twelfth Night and Fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday, as I am calling today.)
Now that you know all of this, guess what happened when I went to slice the King Cake last Friday?
I hit the baby right away! Since my birthday was coming up, I slid the baby out from under the knife (just a wee bit nicked up) and considered my good luck. We brewed a pot of hot coffee and enjoyed the cinnamon coffee cake, a yummy treat on any day of the year.
Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler
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