Here we are on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday--but it's a pandemic year, so we already know it will be different. You may have been seeing houses in New Orleans that have been decorated the way that parade floats would have been decorated in years past. I admire the "let's make lemonaid out of these lemons we've been given" spirit.
Today is Mardi Gras, and it's also Shrove Tuesday. It's the day before Ash Wednesday, the day before Lent begins. Mardi Gras and Carnival, holidays that come to us out of predominantly Catholic countries, certainly have a more festive air than Shrove Tuesday, which comes to us from some of the more dour traditions of England. The word shrove, which is the past tense of the verb to shrive, which means to seek absolution for sins through confession and penance, is far less festive than the Catholic terms for this day.In the churches of my childhood, we had pancake suppers on Shrove Tuesday. I am guessing that there will be few pancake suppers in church fellowship halls across the nation today. Even if we could make it safe to assemble, much of the northern 48, as I like to call the rest of the U.S. that's not Florida and Hawaii, are dealing with snow and ice today.
Maybe this year is the year to have this wallop of a winter storm when we can't do much as a group: no parades, no parties, no pancakes. But we could do something on a small scale at home. The holidays of Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, and Mardi Gras have their roots in the self-denial of the Lenten season. These holidays are rooted in the fasting traditions of Lent and the need to get rid of all the ingredients that you'd be giving up during Lent: alcohol, sugar, eggs, and in some traditions, even dairy foods.
Many of us have baking supplies on hand--why not make a Mardi Gras treat that's a cross between a bread and a cake?
Here's a recipe for a simple, yeasted bread that requires no kneading and is relatively healthy, but also sweet. I'll walk you through it.
Epiphany/Mardi Gras Bread
2 pkg (5 ½ tsp.) active dry yeast
¼ c. warm water
2/3 c. milk
½ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ c. butter
3 large eggs
4 c. flour (can be part or all whole wheat)
2 c. candied fruit, and/or raisins, and/or nuts
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a tsp. of sugar and the salt. Give it a few minutes to foam, and then mix in the eggs. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the milk, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil. Once it’s cooled a bit, add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture, along with the flour, and blend.
Add the 2 cups of candied fruit, nuts, and/or raisins—or leave them out. I’ve used candied ginger with great success, and I really like dried cranberries and pecans. You can use more gourmet items, like citron. Or use the candied fruits that make an appearance during the holiday baking season.
The dough will be very sticky; fortunately, you don’t knead it.
Simply let it rise. Grease 2 tube pans or bundt pans.
When the dough has doubled in size, spoon it into the pans. Let it rise again.
If you want to put prizes in the bread, you can do so before you put the bread in the oven. The traditional prize for Mardi Gras is a baby Jesus (if using plastic, stick him into the bread after baking). For Epiphany/Three Kings Bread, some bread bakers include a coin (wrapped in foil) that indicates good luck for the person who finds it. Some put a china baby into the bread. Other customs include a bean, a clove, a twig, a piece of rag. Some traditions have the person who finds the embedded item doing the clean up, some have the person hosting the next party in February at Candlemas or the next year's Mardi Gras party.
Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes. The dough should be golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
The bread is delicious plain:
but it’s also good with powdered sugar frosting or glaze.
For Mardi Gras, traditionally you’d sprinkle the icing or glaze with sugar colored purple, green, and/or yellow.
You can make colored sugar easily at home by stirring food coloring into white granulated (table) sugar:
Based on a recipe found in Beatrice Ojakangas’ The Great Holiday Baking Book
And keep this bread in mind as Christmas rolls around; it's easy for gifts and a reason to celebrate Epiphany on January 6.
Epiphany/Mardi Gras Bread
2 pkg (5 ½ tsp.) active dry yeast
¼ c. warm water
2/3 c. milk
½ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ c. butter
3 large eggs
4 c. flour (can be part or all whole wheat)
2 c. candied fruit, and/or raisins, and/or nuts
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a tsp. of sugar and the salt. Give it a few minutes to foam, and then mix in the eggs. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the milk, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil. Once it’s cooled a bit, add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture, along with the flour, and blend.
Add the 2 cups of candied fruit, nuts, and/or raisins—or leave them out. I’ve used candied ginger with great success, and I really like dried cranberries and pecans. You can use more gourmet items, like citron. Or use the candied fruits that make an appearance during the holiday baking season.
The dough will be very sticky; fortunately, you don’t knead it.
Simply let it rise. Grease 2 tube pans or bundt pans.
When the dough has doubled in size, spoon it into the pans. Let it rise again.
If you want to put prizes in the bread, you can do so before you put the bread in the oven. The traditional prize for Mardi Gras is a baby Jesus (if using plastic, stick him into the bread after baking). For Epiphany/Three Kings Bread, some bread bakers include a coin (wrapped in foil) that indicates good luck for the person who finds it. Some put a china baby into the bread. Other customs include a bean, a clove, a twig, a piece of rag. Some traditions have the person who finds the embedded item doing the clean up, some have the person hosting the next party in February at Candlemas or the next year's Mardi Gras party.
Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes. The dough should be golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
The bread is delicious plain:
but it’s also good with powdered sugar frosting or glaze.
For Mardi Gras, traditionally you’d sprinkle the icing or glaze with sugar colored purple, green, and/or yellow.
You can make colored sugar easily at home by stirring food coloring into white granulated (table) sugar:
Based on a recipe found in Beatrice Ojakangas’ The Great Holiday Baking Book
And keep this bread in mind as Christmas rolls around; it's easy for gifts and a reason to celebrate Epiphany on January 6.
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