Ellen 1

Maviskw, thank you for the explanation. I'd never heard of the King cake nor have I been to Mardi Gras. Is the cake special, other than the baby?

maviskw

There are lots of recipes for king cake. Mostly it is a yeast dough formed into a circle and baked on a cookie sheet as I said above. Some people roll out the dough as for cinnamon rolls, put on the butter, sugar and cinnamon, roll it up but don't cut any rolls. Put the baby in there somewhere. Now take that prepared large roll and form a circle with it on the cookie sheet, pinching the ends together. You can decorate this roll however you like. Most use colored powdered sugar icing in Mardi Gras colors. That is green, gold and purple.

In New Orleans, people leave their Christmas trees up, take off all the decorations that are not green, gold or purple, add a few more Mardi Gras decorations, and enjoy it until Ash Wednesday.

cjsews

Just checking back to see what suggestions you got. Wisconsin bakeries may not make king cakes but they do make cakes for baby showers It is worth the call to try them. Good luck finding your baby

tessagin

The way you described the cinnamon version is how've I've seen and been able to celebrate with a neighbor. She and family have relatives right outside of New Orleans.

Ellen 1

Thank you maviskw for such a great explanation. Sounds "like a party" before it even gets started!!! Ellen

maviskw

Thanks cjsews. I thought I had ordered some babies, but apparently my order didn't go through. I tried again and read some more and found that the postage is much more than the merchandise is worth. I canceled the order and will take your advice and go see my granddaughter who is manager of the deli in the local bakery. Maybe she can help me. I didn't know that these babies were used at baby showers.
Thanks again.
Mavis

salemrabbits

funny- we do a King Cake at our church- we use a baby as well!

bakermom

When I worked in a bakery we used to get "kits" that contained baby and beads plus a little card that explained the King cake. I would check with a cake and candy supply store in your area or check ebay for cake dec. supplies

maviskw

Well, Mardi Gras is over. We had our king cakes (two of them), and everyone enjoyed them. My friend who baked the other cake found the babies in our local hardware store. They have everything. The local grocery store hadn't had their order in yet.

We had lots of purple, green and gold clothing that night, we had piles of beads, they learned a lot about Mardi Gras, and enjoyed the king cake. Very few of our members had ever been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras.There were three babies, and the winners were given tickets for free admission to a dance evening.

cjsews

Sounds like things worked out well for you. Babies at the hardware store? It must be some interesting place to shop.