CMLE members – we have a King Cake here in the office, and invite you to drop by to try a piece! It may go fast, so we can’t guarantee it will last; but if you miss the cake, we also have Valentine’s Day candy canes to distribute. At CMLE Headquarters, we are always ready to celebrate a holiday!!
If you are not familiar with the history of King Cakes as part of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, Wikipedia has some good information. And NPR wrote a story about their discovery of King Cakes: “Is that a Plastic Baby Jesus in my Cake?”
From our bakery’s information on the history of King Cakes:
“Today in New Orleans, the King Cake is an oval-shaped braided coffee cake which is decorated with cinnamon sugar in the official Mardi Gras colors – gold (for power), green (faith), and purple (justice) – and contains a tiny plastic baby that has replaced the coin used in medieval times. The person who gets the slice of cake with the baby in it must host the next party. At come parties, they are crowned king or queen. [Mary’s Note: more traditionally, the person finding the baby buys the next cake!] The cake, a gift shared by family, friends, and revelers alike, is eaten between the Twelfth Night and FatTuesday, the beginning of Lent. However, the cake often begins appearing during Christmas.”
