For breakfast, I made Mardi Gras King Cake from a pin I saw on Pinterest that led to Taste of Home. It takes about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish to make, so it's important to allow enough time in the morning if you want this for breakfast.
We ate the Mardi Gras King Cake shortly after it came out of the oven so the filling, bread, and frosting were all warm.
Mardi Gras King Cake that I made.
We all thought it tasted good, although there was quite a bit of filling in comparison to the bread. The frosting also could be cut in half. We normally don't use that much frosting on homemade rolls.
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
1/2 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cans (12-1/2 ounces each) almond cake and pastry filling
GLAZE:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons water
Purple, green and gold colored sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, sugar, salt, egg and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll one portion into a 16-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Spread almond filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet; pinch ends together to form a ring. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. For glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough water to achieve desired consistency. Spread over cooled cakes. Sprinkle with colored sugars. Yield: 2 cakes (12 servings each).
Nutritional Facts
1 serving (1 slice) equals 227 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 123 mg sodium, 44 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein.
For a Mardi-Gras theme dinner, we had bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches presented in a different way. The idea came from a pin on Pinterest that led to JDaniel4's Mom.
The mask shape is cut from a tortilla. Behind the mask was hardwood smoked bacon, sliced cherry tomatoes, and lettuce. On the side, were veggie straws (to represent confetti).
Ingredients for a BLT with veggie straws on the side.
The mask shape is just a decoration. Sophia used a full tortilla and filled it with the BLT ingredients to make a BLT roll. I did the traditional BLT sandwich on a multi-grain, whole-wheat bread.
Dinner with a Mardi Gras theme.
Olivia doesn't like BLTs, so I made her a cheese quesadilla since we had plenty of tortillas.
I also served Dirty Rice for dinner. It was from a package that I purchased when I visited Louisiana and wanted to bring back some local food to enjoy at home.
Package of rice I bought in Louisiana.
It was easy to make - one pound of ground hamburger that was browned and drained. Added 2 1/4 cups of water plus the package of seasoned rice.
Hamburger with water and rice mixture.
Cooked it for about 20 or so minutes.
Dirty rice.
Everyone liked the rice. I was surprised that Olivia even enjoyed it since it was a bit on the spicy side.
For dessert, we had Mini King Cake Cookies. The recipe came from a pin that led to Flying on Jess Fuel. The cookies have a very strong almond taste. We all liked it, but the amount of extract could be reduced slightly if less of an almond taste is desired.
Mini King Cake Cookies
Cookies that I made and
Sophia frosted and decorated.
Ingredients for the Cookies
Cookies that I made and
Sophia frosted and decorated.
¾ cup margarine
¾ cup sugar
3 ½ cups sifted flour
5 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
Ingredients for the Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp flour (we didn't use this)
1 tsp almond extract
4 tbsp milk
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt it. (Note: The person who wrote the recipe noted to use margarine since the cookies come out weird if you use butter. So,I used 1/2 cup margarine and 1/4 cup butter and they turned out fine. )
Add the rest of the cookie ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
Roll about 1-tablespoon of dough into balls and put them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes (or a little less).
Olivia with one of the cookies.
A traditional king cake has a little baby, bean, or other trinket hidden inside it. Whoever gets the piece with the baby is king for the day and/or gets to make/buy the next king cake. Place it in a cookie that has cooled completely. (Make sure to let those who are eating the cookies know that there is a surprise hidden inside one of them.)
Sophia is showing a peanut that was in one cookie.
For the frosting, mix the powdered sugar with 2 teaspoons of flour. Add 1 teaspoon of the almond extract and the milk slowly until it is a creamy consistency. Frost and decorate the cookies.
2 comments:
The only thing I had before was dirty rice--and that was tasty and a bit spicy, yes. Everything looked good! :)
We had King Cake also for dessert though. Fat Tuesday snuck up on me this year so I was scrambling, I did a combo shrimp creole/etouffee/picante since I didn't have all the ingredients for one!
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