This week: King cake and Madri Gras recipes, a preview of upcoming giveaways, cookbook previews and more!

This year Mardi Gras falls on the 25th of February, with celebrations happening in the two weeks leading up to the date itself. The largest celebrations occurring on the two weekends before the day itself, which always falls on a Tuesday. Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday is the food-laden fête before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

One of the oldest and most well-known foods to celebrate Mardi Gras is the famed King cake. The king cake started as a dry French bread–type dough with sugar on top over 300 years ago in celebration of the Epiphany (galettes du roi)*. Depending on the particular country there are many varieties of this cake. Some are made with a sweetened brioche dough in the shape of a hollow circle, drizzled with a white glaze, and sprinkled with colored sugars, typically purple, green and yellow.

Many king cakes are eaten in New Orleans and throughout the US during the carnival season. In other countries, king cakes are made with a puff pastry, filled with one of several fillings (for example, almond, apple, chocolate), and have a small figurine, called a fève, hidden inside. Traditionally, a small plastic or porcelain baby is baked into the cake. Originally, the baby was placed in the cake to symbolize baby Jesus and sometimes fava beans were used to represent Jesus. The type of figurine varies depending on the bakery. The person who gets the piece of cake with the fève is said to have good fortune. Due to liability issues and choking hazards, many bakeries no longer hide the plastic baby, choosing to rest it on the outside of the cake.

Of course, you may choose any dishes to celebrate Mardi Gras but a few that are popular, especially in New Orleans, include:

• Pączki (online recipes)
• Jelly doughnut recipes (online recipes)
• Jambalaya (online recipes)
• Beignets (online recipes)
• Étouffée (online recipes)
• Shrimp & grits (online recipes)
• Gumbo (online recipes)
• Bananas Foster (variations) (online recipes)
• Galettes du roi*

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

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Since our last roundup, Darcie has written articles that include a piece about how to pick the perfect melting cheese, 25 years of cooking tips, rare and historical Mexican cookbooks available online, unsung culinary heroes, why recipe writers don’t need to worry about artificial intelligence, a history of chopsticks and why a book cover can vary depending on the country of publication. Darcie’s weekly food news antipasto is shared every Sunday (#foodnews brings up these information-packed posts).

This week, I shared my first Quick Bites article on Food & Wine Editor, Kat Kinsman. Kat is a talented writer and an all-around wonderful person who also happens to be a big fan of EYB. Look for this feature every few weeks.

Giveaways have been posted for Joe Yonan’s Cool Beans (with a grand prize of a Circulon straining casserole), Kathy Gunst’s Rage Baking and Darra Goldstein’s Beyond the North Wind. Other promotions coming soon include Rachael Ray’s 50 with a grand prize of a set of her cookware, Sam Sifton’s new book along with a Smithey cast iron pot and more cookbook titles that will be paired with Hestan Cue cookware, a Le Creuset Dutch oven, Kuhn Rikon products, French press, Anolon cookware, and Schmidt Brothers cutlery!

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Recently Indexed Books

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• Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots: Planting Advice & Recipes from Great Dixter by Aaron Bertelsen. EYB members receive 30% off Phaidon titles when using the link provided.
• Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less! by Melissa Joulwan
• Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Terry Bryant
• Lose Weight & Get Fit: 100 High-Flavour Recipes for Dieting and Fitness by Tom Kerridge
• Rachael Ray 50: Memories and Meals from a Sweet and Savory Life: A Cookbook by Rachael Ray
• The Side Dish Bible: 1001 Perfect Recipes for Every Vegetable, Rice, Grain, and Bean Dish You Will Ever Need by America’s Test Kitchen Editors

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Member Photo of the Week

Shrimp and cabbage slaw with chile sauce and lime from Williams-Sonoma Eat Well: New Ways to Enjoy Foods You Love Every Day by Charity Ferreira submitted by member Rinshin

Have you uploaded any of your own photos yet? Learn more!

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Featured Online Recipe

Salted caramel upside down banana loaf cake from Belleau Kitchen by Dominic Franks

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EYBDigital Previews

Recently we uploaded our 617th EYBDigital Preview and shared some insight into members’ questions. A selection of full sample pages is available for the following cookbooks. 

 Learn more about EYBDigital Previews.

Note: For an explanation on why you cannot add all EYBDigital Preview recipes
to your Bookshelf, please read this Help page.

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• 3 recipes from Beatrix Bakes by Natalie Paull – Pub date 3/17/2020
• 13 recipes from Black Axe Mangal by Lee Tiernan – EYB members receive 30% off Phaidon titles when using the link provided.
• 5 recipes from Italian Food by Elizabeth David
• 3 recipes from Slow Cooked Paleo: 75 Real Food Recipes for Effortless, Wholesome Meals in Your Slow Cooker by Bailey Fischer
• Selected pages sharing techniques from Cake Decorating for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Decorating Like a Pro by Rose Atwater
• 3 recipes from Gluten-Free, Vegan Cooking in Your Instant Pot®: 65 Delicious Whole Food Recipes for a Plant-Based Diet by Kathy Hester – Pub date 2/25/2020

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Cookbook Giveaways
Click on the Blue Link Below to Enter

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before entering. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post and this forum post.

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• Enter our US giveaway (EYB providing one additional copy worldwide) for The New Way to Cake: Simple Recipes with Exceptional Flavor by Benjamina Ebuehi Expires February 27th, 2020.
• Enter our US giveaway (EYB providing one additional copy worldwide) for Elegant Pie: Transform Your Favorite Pies into Works of Art by Karin Pfeiff-Boschek Expires March 1st, 2020.
• Enter our US giveaway for Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia by Nicholas Elmi and Adam Erace Expires March 2nd, 2020.

Be sure to enter all our current giveaways! 

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 View Past Weekly Roundups

*Please note that for the purpose of this post I focused on Mardi Gras. I have edited to include more information from Sarah, a member:

“King cakes or galettes du roi are served in France and Belgium on 12th Night and are traditionally they are made with puff pastry and an almond frangipane type filling. 12th night marks the Epiphany or the day the Three Kings arrived bringing presents for the baby Jesus. There is indeed a bean hidden but these days they are ceramic and the ones from the local pâtissier will have symbols on them and are now collectible. Whoever finds the bean gets to wear the crown for the day.”

In December, I will include a full feature on galettes du roi and the history behind this beautiful tradition.