Category Archives: Feast of the Epiphany

Jan6

Easy Peasy Pillsbury King Cake

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Easy Peasy Pillsbury King Cake

Happy Almost Mardi Gras! Every January 6th kicks off the official King Cake season and Carnival. I wrote a guest post, ‘Tis the season of King Cakes, over at Charlotte Riggle’s blog for all you food and culture buffs.

Today I want to share another easy King Cake recipe. The recipe in my book, THE KING CAKE BABY, uses frozen bread dough with a cinnamon-sugar filling and includes a recipe for making a Cream Cheese icing. In this recipe, I use three Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheets, the cinnamon-sugar mix, and a can of Pillsbury Cream Cheese icing. Easy peasy! The only thing easier than making this King Cake is picking one up at your favorite grocery or bakery.

Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheet King Cake Recipe

 Ingredients:

  • 3 Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheets

  • Cinnamon sugar mixture: mix ½ c. granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons cinnamon 

  • 1 Plastic King Cake Baby (to hide inside, of course!)

  • Purple, Green, & Gold sugar sprinkles

  • Optional fillings: fruit pie filling, or Nutella, or almond paste

  • 1 can Pillsbury Cream Cheese Icing 

Directions:

Cover a baking pan with parchment paper or use a nonstick cookie sheet. Unroll dough sheets and sprinkle each with about a tablespoon of the cinnamon-sugar mix. 

Roll each dough sheet from the shortest side of the rectangle. 

Arrange into an oval shape. Press seams together to connect. Bake according to directions on Pillsbury package. EDIT: Add an extra 5 or 10 minutes depending on your oven. Check to make sure the inside is done.

Decorate the King Cake

Soften ½ can of Pillsbury Cream Cheese icing. Have purple, green, gold sprinkles handy.

While the cake is still warm, pour icing on top. Alternate with purple, green and gold colored Mardi Gras sprinkles. If you prefer to make your own icing:

Cream-Cheese Icing

3 cups powdered sugar

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons melted butter

¼ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

3 tablespoons milk

Mix all five ingredients in a bowl until the icing is thick enough to slowly drip from a whisk or spoon. Drizzle over the warm cake.

Hide a plastic King Cake Baby in the underside of the cake. Before eating, check to see if you got the baby!

Click Mardi Gras King Cake from Pillsbury Dough Sheets to download the recipe.

                             

Bon appétit!

And if any of you need a gluten free recipe, see this Red Mill cinnamon roll recipe.

 

 

Dec26

The 12 Days of Christmas starts today!

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The 12 Days of Christmas starts today!

The 12 days of Christmas starts today. I know the song by the same name first played on the radio the day after Halloween. For some cultures, primarily in Europe and Latin America, the first day of Christmas started on December 25 and will end January 5. Here in the US, at least in creole Louisiana, the first day starts today, December 26 and will end January 6.

So what’s up with that song? We know it’s about someone getting lots of gifts, especially birds, from their true love. A wee research led me to a number of guesses about its origin. The earliest written version is from 1780 published as a children’s “memory and forfeits” game much like the game ‘I went to the market and bought’ where players are tasked with remembering and repeating what was said before them. Others hypothesize it’s an English Christmas carol, a French folk song from 1770, and even a ‘code’ persecuted English Catholics used to practice their faith back in the 16th-17th centuries. A century later it was described as a game played at a Twelfth night celebration.

Fast forward to the 19th-20th centuries and the parodies ensued. If “The 12 Days of Christmas” Happened in Real Life is a very funny video and 12 Days of Christmas parody of the Johnston family.


Although no one can say with certainty what the meaning is behind the song or the origin, today it’s rooted in both secular and Christian Christmas traditions. And it’s so much fun to sing! Whether there is a connection or not, there are 12 days from today till January 6th, also known Twelfth Night, Le Petit Noël, Little Christmas, Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings’ Day.

Whether the song is enjoyed for a secular or religious reason, we can extend the spirit of the season 12 more days. My plan is continue gift giving, but through acts of kindness. I hope you will join me!