Mardi Gras Archives - Sugared Productions Blog

Mardi Gras Tutorial RoundUp

Sharon Z — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 03:53:15 +0000

Happy Mardis Gras! It’s Carnival time down here in my home town of New Orleans. It’s a great opportunity to crate some colorful and fun treats. Here’s a round-up of the some cutest from around the web.

Sugared Productions King Cake

King Cake Jello Shots

Mardis Gras Cupcakes

Mardis Gras Cake Pops

Mardis Gras Cookies

Mardi Gras Ice Cream

I hope these tutorials inspire you to get into this festive holiday with your family!

Sharon

The post Mardi Gras Tutorial RoundUp appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Mardi Gras Give-away!

Sharon Zambito — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 22:56:09 +0000

HAPPY MARDI GRAS EVERYONE!

Since it is Mardi Gras day down here in the Big Easy, I thought you might enjoy learning about another one of our unique culinary creations. I have recruited my big sister Barbara to do a guest blog entry on making a king cake. Barbara is the inventor of the original King Rock (more on that later). In addition to that, she is just the best big sister ever. She looks after me. She is an accountant by profession, so she helps with my business finances, taxes, and all that other icky stuff I have no clue about. She also comes on some of my cake trips with me to help me out with my demos and my vendor table. She is one of the most energetic, social, and fun to be with people I know. She is a very cool chick and I love her tons. So now I present to you… Barbara…..

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Hi, I’m Barbara, Sharon’s sister, and she’s asked me to do a guest blog. This is me getting ready for Mardi Gras, which this year falls on February 24.

(Note from Sharon: I have this same outfit and yes we do wear this when we go parading.)

Speaking of Mardi Gras, that brings me to the topic of the day. I am not a cake decorator. I see some of the magnificent pieces of art that you all do and I am in complete awe. But, I am here today to talk about the king of all cakes – the King Cake.

If you are not from the New Orleans are, you might be asking yourself “what is a King Cake?” A king cake is a brioche-style cake similar to a coffee cake that is served throughout the carnival season in New Orleans. The carnival season begins on the 12th Day of Christmas, the Epiphany (January 6), which is the day the three kings visited the Baby Jesus. It is believed that it took the three kings 12 days to find their way to the stable. The carnival season ends on Mardi Gras Day, which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

The king cake is circular, representing the circular path the three kings had to take to ward off King Herod, who was seeking them so that he could kill the Christ Child. The king cake is typically decorated with colored icing and/or sugar. The three colors are purple, green and gold, the colors of Mardi Gras, which represent justice, faith and power. I’ve also heard that the three colors represent the three gifts presented by the Magi (gold, frankincense, and myrrh.) Within each cake is hidden a small plastic doll, which represents the Baby Jesus. (In olden times, it used to be a porcelain doll, or a bean or pea.)

King Cake parties where all the rage when I was growing up. Whoever was lucky enough to get the doll in their piece of cake would be named king (or queen) of that party and had to throw the next party. Today, this tradition is very prevalent in offices throughout the city where the person who gets the doll must bring the next cake. King cake sales are so prosperous that many bakeries in New Orleans are more profitable during the carnival season than they are for the entire rest of the year.

The making of a king cake should not be taken lightly. Since this is a yeast sweet bread, it has to be kneaded and left to rise twice, and is a day-long commitment. There are many bakeries that make excellent king cakes, so why in the world would anyone want to make their own? Just for the fun of it!!

My introduction into making home-made king cakes came many years ago. I found a recipe and tried it out on my family. Geez almighty, it was horrible. It came out heavy and hard as a rock, so much so that they called it the King Rock. My other sister, Janice, told her office mates about it and they accused her of exaggerating – that it couldn’t possibly have been that bad. So, they asked me to make a cake for their office party. Much to my dismay, it was just as horrible, but everyone was so polite and complimentary so as not to hurt my feelings, but I knew it was a bomb. I hope to think that I have gotten a little better at it over the years, but it is still tricky. I continue to try out new recipes and techniques, as I continue my search for perfection.

The recipe below is a really good one. It produces a light, but moist cinnamon cake. A few pointers for success: You have to get the yeast at just the right temperature (105 to 115 degrees) and let it foam for at least 10 minutes. You have to be careful not to add too much flour and not to over knead it. The dough should be slightly sticky, but elastic and able to hold its own shape, but never firm.

You have to be careful not to over bake it or it will be dry. I now use an instant-read thermometer, which should register 195 to 200 degrees for doneness.

The recipe is below. Basically, this is what you do. It’s much like making a bread dough. Let it rise till double in bulk and then roll out into a rectangle.

Here’s what it looks like rolled out with the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on:

Then roll up each piece into a long string.

Pinch the edges together so that the filling doesn’t ooze out. Flatten down the pinched edge afterwards so that it lays flat.

Twist the two strings together.

Form into a circle on a baking pan.

Let rise until double in bulk.

This is what it looks like right out of the oven.

Let cool and then decorate with a glaze and colored sprinkles.

See the baby’s head?

And that’s me with my cake.

You can do these in a variety of ways. You can divide the rectangle of dough into thirds and braid it like this. I rolled these strings in the cinnamon sugar to get it on the outside, rather than on the inside.

This is what it looked like after it was left to rise, baked and decorated. This one raised a lot and was very light and airy.

This one was filled with cinnamon sugar, raisins, and pecans. If you put a lot of “stuff” in your cake, it won’t rise as much.

You can also use other fillings, such as cream cheese filling, apple pie filling, lemon pie filling, cherry pie filling, etc. But I don’t like those. They turn out too sweet for my taste and the filling overpowers the taste of the cake. I’m a purist and like just a little cinnamon sugar.

So, that’s it. I hope that you all give it a try and bring a bit of New Orleans to wherever you might live. Also, if you ever have the chance to visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the city would love to have you. Let me just say that Mardi Gras is not only what you see in the media. Yes, there are some unmentionable things that go on in the French Quarter, but that is a very small piece of what our carnival season is about. Mardi Gras outside of the Quarter is very family oriented. The parade routes are filled with kids and families having fun. When we were little kids, my family did not miss a parade. We loved every minute of it. We would lift Sharon, the youngest, smallest and spryest of all of us, over barricades to get that all-elusive string of beads, trinket or doubloon out of our reach. Police were all over the place supposedly monitoring such infractions, but because she was so cute, the police would just look at her and us, and just shake their heads. We trained her young; you should see how she still scoops up the parade throws.

Happy Mardi Gras!

KING CAKE RECIPE:

(This recipe makes two medium size cakes.)

¼ cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 tablespoon (1 package) dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
5 ¾ to 6 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ cup warm milk (105 to 115 degrees)
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon or orange
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces

Cinnamon Sugar:
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
7 tablespoons hot water, more as needed
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring

1) Pour warm water into small bowl. Sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar over the surface. Stir to dissolve and let stand at room temperature until foamy; about 10 minutes.

2) Place 1 ½ cups of the flour, the remaining sugar, and the salt in mixer bowl. Make a well and add the milk, sour cream, eggs, and zest in the center. Beat until smooth on medium-low speed, about 1 minute.

3) Add the yeast mixture and beat for 1 minute more.

4) Stop the machine and add 1 cup more flour. Beat for 1 minute.

5) Add the butter pieces and beat on low speed until incorporated.

6) Add the remaining four, ½ cup at a time, until a soft, smooth dough that just clears the sides of the bowl is formed. Switch to the dough hook when the dough thickens, about two-thirds through adding the flour.

7) When all flour is added, knead with dough hook for about 5 minutes on medium speed. (If you don’t have a dough hook for your mixer, you’ll need to turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5-10 minutes.)

8) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and just able to hold its own shape, under 1 minute if you used the dough hook (6 to 10 kneads to smooth it out), dusting with flour only 1 tablespoon at a time, just enough to prevent sticking to your hands and the work surface. This dough will be very smooth, with a definite soft elastic quality, a little sticky, but never stiff, and will hold its shape.

9) Place the dough ball in a greased deep container, turn once to grease the top, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, 2 ½ to 3 hours. Do not allow the dough to rise over double.

10) Punch dough down with fist. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Let rest 10 minutes.

11) Divide the dough in half with a bench scraper, pizza cutter or knife, never tearing the dough.

12) Divide each half into thirds. Roll out to a rectangle approx. 20 x 12 inches.

13) Divide in half with pizza cutter. Brush with melted butter keeping edges dry. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

14) Roll up and pinch ends together so filling does not ooze out. Flatten pinched edge.

15) Twist two long rolled pieces together. Form into a circle and fold edges under.

16) You can insert baby trinket into cake at this point or wait until after it is baked. (I like to wait after it is baked if it is plastic.) Insert from underneath. (If you don’t have a baby trinket, use a whole pecan, walnut or other object; just be careful it is big enough that it cannot be swallowed whole.)

17) Cover with greased plastic wrap or light cloth towels and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

18) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 20-25 minutes. An instant-read thermometer will read 195 to 200 degrees.

19) Let cakes completely cool.

20) To prepare frosting, mix melted butter, powdered sugar and flavoring; add hot water 1 Tablespoon at a time until glaze reaches desired spreading consistency. You don’t want this too thin because it will run right off the cake or too thick because it won’t drip down the side of the cake.

21) Pour frosting over cake; sprinkle with purple, green and gold colored sprinkles or colored sugar.

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Sharon again here. WOW! Was that great or what? Thanks Sis for showing me up on my own blog. Dang overachiever. (Just kidding.) But seriously, I have been trying to convince Barb for months now to start her own food blog. She is a good cook, and photography has been a hobby of hers for a long time.

UPDATE : GIVE-AWAY WINNER IS VickiN!

THANKS ALL FOR ENTERING!

Good luck and Happy Mardi Gras Everyone!

Sharon

PS We’ve got a full video tutorial on making the King Cake in our online school:

http://www.sugaredproductions.com/

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Easy Mardi Gras Masks by Lisa Bugeja

Sharon Zambito — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 05:35:58 +0000

Hey everyone! It’s almost that time of the year here again in the Big Easy! Our guest blogger today is Lisa Bugeja of Flour Confections, and she’s here to share a quick and easy tutorial on Mardi Gras mask cupcake toppers. Take it away Lisa!

Supplies required:

Piping gel
Gumpaste (Confectioners Choice)
various Edible glitters (green, purple, gold and optional rainbow)
Mask cutter
Silpat mat
Flexible silicone container
Parchment paper
paintbrush
Isomalt
Airbrush color if needing to colour your own isomalt (Americolor)
Saran Wrap

Roll out white gumpaste to a thin consistency (#2 on pasta machine). Cut out masks using cutter.

Place masks on silpat mat while you prepare isomalt.

Following manufacturers instructions, place pre-coloured isomalt nibs in silicone container and melt in microwave. CAUTION HOT! DO NOT TOUCH

When fully melted, carefully pour isomalt into eye cavities – be careful not to overfill. Let cool until hard and ok to touch.

Once cooled, gently bend gumpaste mask to give shape and place ball of plastic wrap in behind to help maintain shape while gumpaste dries.

When masks are dry, using a paintbrush, apply piping gel to sections of mask where you want to adhere the edible glitter.

In order to do tri-colour effect, paint each section separately and apply glitter immediately to painted areas BEFORE moving on to another colour.

Once complete, place masks on top of iced cupcakes & enjoy!

*** Note: Isomalt will dull if placed in refrigerator or in high humidity – best to add to cupcakes just before serving.

Thank you Lisa! These are so cute!

Lisa Bugeja is the award winning artist & creative force behind Flour Confections Inc. & Baked and Beloved in Toronto, Ontario. Her work has been featured in numerous publications such as Brides magazine, Toronto Life, Wedluxe Magazine, American Cake Decorating, Bakers Journal, People.com to name a few. She has also been seen on CTV’s Canada AM; and as assistant to Ashlee Perkins on Food Network Challenge, and assistant to Matthew Somers on their winning episode of Cake Walk.

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Celebrating Mardi Gras Round Up

Sharon Zambito — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 00:01:03 +0000

Hey y’all! happy Mardi Gras!

It’s time for Mardi Gras down here in New Orleans! Another excuse to indulge in yummy treats ;)! This year, I have found some really great recipes to help you celebrate!

This first one is from my very own big sister, Barbara!

From SugarEd Productions:

Mardi Gras King Cake

AND we have a full length video tutorial on how to make this iconic cake in our online school. Here is a preview:

From Amanda Rettke of The Food Network:

Mardi Gras Hi-hat Cupcakes

From Baked Bree:

King Cake Cookies

From Catch My Party:

Mardi Gras Printables

From Spicy Southern Kitchen

Mardi Gras Monkey Bread

From Dixie Delights:

Throw Me Something, Mister! Cocktail

From Sweetopia:

Mardi Gras Mask Cookies

From Sweet Pea’s Kitchen:

Mardi Gras Cupcakes

From NOLA Mommy:

King Cake Cookies

From Plain Chicken:

Easy King Cake Knots

From Myrecipes.com:

Mini King Cupcakes

From Bakingdom:

Topsy Turvy Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Wow! So many cute (and yummy) ideas! I hope you are able to try a few of these and have fun celebrating Mardi Gras! I’m off to another parade!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Sharon!

The post Celebrating Mardi Gras Round Up appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

King Cake!

Sharon Zambito — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:48:10 +0000

Hey Sugar Friends!

It is Mardi Gras down here in New Orleans. One of my very favorite times of the year. Great family fun going to the parades and watching all the wonderful marching bands perform while trying to catch all the goodies thrown off the floats. I wish you could all come down here and experience it with me.

But even if you can’t come down and see it, you can still enjoy a bit of Mardi Gras at home by making your own King Cake! My sister Barbara is the master of homemade king cake, so let’s visit the blog archive where she will take you step by step through the process to ensure your success.

KING CAKE POST HERE

You can find the plastic king cake babies several places online like here. Note: be sure to tell the king cakers to be on the lookout for the baby to avoid choking.

I hope you guys give it a try. If you do, let me know how it turned out!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Sharon

The post King Cake! appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Mardi Gras King Cake

Sharon Zambito — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:08:00 +0000

HAPPY MARDI GRAS EVERYONE!

Since it is Mardi Gras season right now down here in the Big Easy, I thought you might enjoy learning about another one of our unique culinary creations. I have recruited my big sister Barbara to do a guest blog entry on making a king cake. Barbara is the inventor of the original King Rock (more on that later). In addition to that, she is just the best big sister ever. She looks after me. She is an accountant by profession, so she helps with my business finances, taxes, and all that other icky stuff I have no clue about. She also comes on some of my cake trips with me to help me out with my demos and my vendor table. She is one of the most energetic, social, and fun to be with people I know. She is a very cool chick and I love her tons. So now I present to you… Barbara…..