King's Cake

Today, as you may or may not know, is Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Carnival. The last day before Lent starts and a big, happy feast in places such as New Orleans.

Accompanying this tradition of pre-Lenten partying is a delicious treat called a King's Cake. I have no idea what's in it, because I've never made one, but Publix makes an excellent one which we've eaten the past two years. I'm sure the cake is not as good as what you could get at New Orleans, but it is tasty enough for me.

Next year, however, Mom wants me to make one. I found a couple of good recipes at CakeCentral.com

• Recipe One
• Recipe Two

King's Cake, however, is not the only pastry news I have to share. I made adorable football-shaped cookies for the Superbowl. They were a big hit at the party I went to, although we did have some leftovers (which I will attribute to the other delicious desserts, like the really super chocolate cake). I don't have any pictures from my digital camera, but I'll try to snag one before we finish eating them all.

The Webkinz cookies that I'm making for my brother's fund raiser are going well. I'm pretty much done with them, but I'll add the FINAL touches tomorrow, so that I can send them in on Thursday. The sample cookie I sent to his teacher was met with much approval and praise (she said they were "a wonderfully creative idea").

Next week, the Beta Club at school will be having a Sweetheart's Dance at the local assisted living home. I signed up for the snack/food committee, and I'm hoping that I can bake cookies, or cupcakes, or (hopefully) a cake. I'll find out Thursday what the plan is.

Now you know what's been going on in my baking world as of late. I hope to have something interesting to take pictures of soon... Katie's birthday is in seven weeks, and I'll definitely take pictures of her penguin princess cake. No cake for Easter, because that's two days after Kate's birthday, so we'll still have leftovers. I'm not sure about other cake opportunities, but we'll find out together! =)