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Monday, January 08, 2007
After the Epiphany
The party is over. Dh's birthday on Saturday, and yesterday hosting my family's Epiphany party, with 14 adults and 12 children under the age of 9, I'm a bit exhausted. But I thought I would mention our baking highlights:
My husbands enjoys football, and is a big Penn State and Pittsburgh Steeler fan. I decided to splurge and purchase this Stadium Bundt Pan. He loves cake, and has fond memories of his mother's fancy decorated birthday cakes, so I thought he might enjoy this.
He really did. I used the Kahlua Cake recipe. It makes 9 cups of batter, but in the future I'll only put 8 cups in the cake, as I had an overflowing lava of a mess and quite a smell in my house. But the cake was still good. I sprinkled the powder sugar and it looked like a stadium at a snow game. We're very wishful for snow around here.
Yesterday was Epiphany and our family celebration. The day before I made our King Cake. This recipe makes two rings, and I did a few changes, as I was short of energy and time. I had to let the bread dough rise several times, because I just didn't have free time to roll it out.
And rolling this dough out takes time. I have never been able to reach the dimensions of 15 x 30 inches, so I don't. I think I did about 22-25 inches long. I doubled the amount of the filling. The first ring, I mixed the melted butter with the sugar combo, accidentally omitted the granulated sugar. I spread the filling all over the dough (didn't divide into strips) and then rolled it like a cinnamon roll. My ring wasn't perfect, but it's oh, so tasty!
The other ring I made another batch of filling without mixing the butter and this time including the granulated sugar. I melted the butter, brushed it on the dough, and cut it in half, into two strips. I think put the filling, closed the edges and "braided" the two. It was easier than three, as I could keep the strips closed and not lose as much filling. I still struggle with the edges, so that the ring closes, but I was so pressed for time. I did the egg wash and colored sugar.
The cake is best served warmed with a bit of butter on the sliced piece. Yummy!
Last, but of course not least, was my first attempt at this Allergy Free King Cake. Don't be aghast, but I used Crisco and store-bought icing, added Jelly-Bellys and Sour Lifesavers for decoration. My flour changes were 1/2 cup barley flour, 3/4 cup oat flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 tapioca starch, 1/4 cup corn starch and a small amount of soy lecithin and xanthum gum. The taste is delicious, although my version was a bit dry and crumbly. I would remove about a 1/4 cup of flour combination or maybe add a bit more shortening.
My son mainly enjoyed the candies and frosting, but enjoyed nonetheless and was thrilled to have his own cake.
12:37 Posted in Breads and Biscuits , Christmas , Desserts , Liturgical Year | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: King Cake, Allergy Free, Epiphany, Stadium Cake
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Epiphany King Cake
"King Cake" is the Louisiana term for the sweet bread served on Epiphany. This is the day that opens up Carnival or Mardi Gras. It seems almost every country has their own version of an Epiphany cake or bread. I couldn't find all the names or types for all the countries, but here's a smattering:
Hispanic Countries: Rosca de los Reyes (Cake of the Kings). This is a fruit and nut filled ring or crown topped with icing and decorations, and bean or tiny doll inserted.
France: Galette (or Gateau) des Roi (or Rois) (Cake of the Kings). Usually this is a round and flat cake, honey-spice or sponge inside. It is decorated with pastry, fruits, or sugared frills. Each cake has a bean, small token or miniature doll inside. A nice tradition: there should be one more piece than the number of guests. The extra portion, la part a Dieu--God's share--is for the first poor person who knocks at the door. The day of the Kings means sharing as well as receiving. Nobody who asks for food or alms will leave empty-handed that day.
England: Twelfth Cake is eaten with Lamb's Wool (mulled ale with roasted apple pulp). Inside the cake are a bean and a pea. The man to find the bean was the King of the part, and the woman with the pea is the Queen.
I found this great cookbook called The Festive Bread Book by Kathy Cutler. In her book she has 7 different types of bread or cakes for Epiphany, including ones from Spain, Brazil, Holland and a Twelfth Night Bread of Lady Carcas. This book is OOP. The other book I keep recommending, Celebrations of Bread by Betsy Oppenneer, only has one recipe for Epiphany, Rosca de Reyes.
The Epiphany Cake I posted previously will be a new addition to our Epiphany celebration. We usually serve this King Cake as part of our family celebration. This recipe is from from La Cucina Egeriana. by Eleanor Bernstein, Ferraro, CSJ and Maria Bettina, from Notre Dame Centre for Pastoral Liturgy.
It makes two 9x12 bread rings. The rolling and braiding is a little tricky and time consuming, but it is so delicious and beautiful. My family likes a sweet icing, so I put it on top and sprinkle with colored sugar (purple, green, and gold). The recipe calls for an egg wash with a colored sugar sprinkle.
Cake:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
4 eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
5 cups flour plus 1 cup for kneading surface
Melt 1 stick butter, milk, 1/3 cup sugar and salt in a saucepan. Cool to lukewarm. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar, yeast and water in a large mixing bowl. Let stand until it forms (5-10 minutes). Beat eggs into yeast mixture. Then add milk mixture and lemon and orange rinds. Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, reserving 1 cup for the kneading surface. Knead dough until smooth (about 5-10 minutes). Place in large mixing bowl that has been greased. Turn dough once to grease top; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Filling:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted
Topping:
Either 1 egg beaten or Confectioner's Sugar Icing
Then 1/3 cup each colored sugar of purple, yellow and green
2 plastic babies (3/4 inch) or 2 red beans
For filling, mix pecans, brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. For topping, tint sugar by mixing in food coloring until desired shade is reached. For purple, use equal amounts of blue and red. (Use just a drop or two at a time).
When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll half into a rectangle 30 x 15 inches. Brush with half of the melted butter and cut into 3 lengthwise strips. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture and pecans on strips, leaving a 1-inch lengthwise strip free for sealing. Fold each strip lengthwise toward the center, sealing the seam. You will now have 3 30-inch strips with sugar and nut mixture enclosed in each. Braid the 3 strips and make a circle by joining the ends. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Place each cake on a 10"x15: baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Brush each egg and sprinkle top with colored sugars, in sequence.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 20 minutes or until cake tests done. Remove from baking sheet immediately so that sugar will not harden. While still warm, place 1 plastic baby or bean in each from underneath the cake.
To freeze, wrap cooled cake tightly in plastic wrap. Before serving, remove plastic and thaw. The cake is best if heated slightly before serving.
09:10 Posted in Breads and Biscuits , Christmas , Desserts | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
Epiphany Cake -- Eggless, Milkless, Butterless
Ethel Marbach is an author I really enjoy. Most moms will recognize her by the name Ethel Pochocki and her Bethlehem Books titles such as Once Upon a Time Saints.
Her earlier works as Ethel Marbach are all out of print, but I've had fun reading Holy Housewivery: A Do-It-Yourself Handbook and the companion, Holy Housewifery Cookbook. She is a wonderful, humorous writer, with a great grasp of the Catholic faith and traditions and what it entails to be a wife and mother. I'd say she's a combination of Mary Reed Newland and Erma Bombeck.
My favorite works by her are these tiny series of pamphlets entitled Family Liturgical Customs printed by Abbey Press in the 1960s. They are small, but packed full with ideas. And I was just thrilled to come across this suggestion for an Epiphany Cake. I plan on substituting the wheat flour with a wheat-free combination so my son can share in cake on Epiphany. This comes from her Family Liturgical Customs No. 2: Christmas.
(As an aside, dear reader, there are 5 pamphlets in this series: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. I still haven't found a copy of Advent or Lent. I've been looking for many years. This Christmas pamphlet was a new-found addition. Anyone have a copy that they could share? Copy it for me? I am also offering scanning text or copies of my pamphlets in exchange.)
Our King's Cake for Epiphany contains three beans (or a dime, nickel and penny wrapped in foil) and they who find them are Kings for A Night. There's much X-Ray eyeing and, when Mother turns her back, secret probing of promising-looking lumps on the cake. We bake an inexpensive spice variety in a tube pan, spread it with simple vanilla butter frosting, and crown it with a ring of gumdrops. Gumdrops can be such regal jewels! Here is the recipe for our King's Cake (Mother called it Eggless-Milkless-Butterless Cake):
Epiphany Cake
Mix in saucepan:
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup shortening or lard
2 cups seeded raisins
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and cloves, each
2 teaspoon cinnamon
Boil for 3 minutes. Cool. Add mixture of
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon water
Sift and blend in:
2 cups flour (I'm going to do a mixture of barley and oat flour, with some starches)
1 teaspoon baking powder
In a greased and floured tube pan, pour batter. Drop in beans or money.
Bake at 325 degrees about one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.
08:50 Posted in Christmas , Desserts , Vegan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: Epiphany, Three Kings, King Cake