Weekly Dish

The theme for this month’s Paper Chef, as decreed by the grand master of cermonies, Owen, is the spirit of renewal that a new year brings: health, peace, simplicity. The ingredients, presented Friday by that ever-hilarious duo over at Belly-Timber, are healthful indeed: cashews, quinoa, yog(h)urt, and something baby, in honor of the infant year. (We’ll get to that mysterious q-word in just a moment).

But, well, see, here’s the thing. I live in southern Louisiana. Here, the New Year (January 6 to be exact) kicks off the beginning of Mardi Gras (or the anticipation of Mardi Gras, often called Carnival). A spirit of. . . celebration, revelry, getting all the fun out of your system before Lent begins marks the atmosphere ’round these parts. Parades and masks and balls and feasts. . .and health and simplicity? Hmmmm.

Alright, so maybe we interpret renewal a bit differently down here. BUT, in light of the ways in which the state suffered in 2005, I certainly think renewal is in order. And what better way to inaugurate such renewal than with a celebration of one of New Orleans’ oldest and most famous traditions?

For my Paper Chef entry this month, I offer you a symbol of that renewal, a Quinoa King Cake with Orange-Yogurt Cashew Filling. And baked inside? That’s right! A tiny little baby!

Like so many other traditions in this part of the world, the history of the king cake is a long and tangled one. Long a part of the ritual celebration that takes place from Twelfth Night until Fat Tuesday, the oval-shaped king cake has symbolized everything from luck for the New Year to the three wise men’s circular journey to find the baby Jesus. Although the treasure buried inside the cake has taken different forms–a bean, pea, or nut–the most common thing you’ll find inside a king cake these days is a tiny plastic baby.

Tradition has it that the person who gets the slice of cake with the baby inside is crowned king or queen for the evening and is in charge of hosting the next celebration. The finding of the baby in the cake has also meant luck and health in the coming year.

So, when Mrs. D and Chopper announced the ingredient list for Paper Chef on January 6–the official beginning of the Mardi Gras season–and the list included anything “baby,” my ever-clever husband immediately suggested a New Orleans King Cake with a baby baked inside.

Now, about those other ingredients. Traditional king cake is really an iced brioche loaf, baked in the shape of a ring, and often filled with cream cheese and cinnamon or almond paste; various other flavors abound in bakeries around town. The cashews and yogurt would be easy enough to incorporate, but I honestly had no idea what in the world quinoa was. Kevin offers an excellent explanation on his post here, but after much reading, all I knew was that it was a seed-like grain that could be cooked like rice. Finally, I found a link to a recipe containing quinoa flour and decided I would use this form to include in my cake.

Quinoa flour, readily available in most whole foods markets, is the ground form of the tiny grains. As such, it has a pleasant nutty flavor, although in baking, it can make the dough heavy and dense, and it doesn’t contain gluten, so it must be mixed with other kinds of flour in order for the dough to come together just right.

I had to increase the butter and egg proportion in order to make my brioche dough sticky enough, but once I did, the dough rose properly and retained that lovely sheen that makes brioche crust so smooth on the outside. I used the yogurt and a bit of mascarpone cheese to make an orange and cashew flavored filling. Once the dough was ready, I formed it into a long rectangle and poured the yogurt down the center, folding the dough over on itself in the process and then shaping it into a big round ring. Then, I had my sister add the baby:

In baking, the cake drank up all of the filling, so there wasn’t a visible core, but the center was delightfully moist and flavored with the orange and cashews. The dough itself is not sweet, so the yogurt center added a nice flavorful accent.

With the addition of some powdered sugar, the orange-cashew yogurt also made for a nice icing/glaze, which held its consistency and added a second hint of sweetness. The end result is more like breakfast than dessert (as is the case with many king cakes), and a yummy breakfast it was. The nuttiness of the quinoa complemented the cashews nicely, and the consistency of the flour made the bread dense and heavy, a perfect sponge for the deliciously sweet yogurt.

So who got the baby?

David, king of our Mardi Gras, husband extraordinaire! He dedicated his baby-finding victory to the city we all love and to her speedy recovery in time for this year’s festivities. Renewal for the purposes of revelry: New Orleans in a nutshell.

Quinoa King Cake with Orange Cashew Filling

2 envelopes yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup warm milk
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 cups quinoa flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. salt
1 t. grated nutmeg
Zest of half an orange

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast and sugar. Add the melted butter and mix on low for a minute or so. Add the milk, mixing for another minute. Let this mixture stand for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast is dissolved and foamy. Turn the mixer on medium-low and add the eggs, one at a time, finishing with the yolks. Mix for a few minutes until thick and well-combined. Add the flour, salt, nutmeg, and orange zest, mixing on low at first, and then increasing the speed. The dough should begin to form a ball that tries to climb out of the bowl. If your dough is not sticky enough, add another egg.

Form the dough into a ball, cover the bowl, and let it rise for about an hour. It should double in size. Meanwhile, make the filling:

1/2 cup salted cashews
Zest of the other half of the orange
8 ounces plain yogurt
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T. honey

In the bowl of a food processor, process the nuts until finely ground (you could also chop them by hand and stir the mixture together). Drain any liquid off the top of the yogurt and add. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. (Probably, if you drained the yogurt through a cheesecloth overnight, you would not need the mascarpone. I did not have that much foresight!)

When the dough has risen, punch it down and knead a few times. Form into a very long, flat rectangle. Pour the yogurt filling down the middle, and fold the dough over on top of itself, sealing by pinching the edges together. Form into a ring, sealing the ends together. Now is when you add the baby, from the bottom of the ring so that it isn’t visible. Cover the cake with a damp cloth and let it rise for another 45 minutes or so. Preheat the oven to 375. Add another 1/2 cup powdered sugar to the remaining yogurt to make the icing. Set aside. Brush the ring with an egg wash (a beaten egg and a tablespoon or so of milk) and bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until the outside is golden and shiny.

Let it cool completely. Spoon the icing on top, letting it drip down the sides. Decorate with stripes of colored sugar: green for growth, purple for justice, and gold for power, in proper New Orleans fashion. Sprinkle with extra cashews if you have them.

Serve with strong coffee and celebrate the renewal of a new year and a new city. Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

***UPDATE: THE ROUNDUP OF PAPER CHEF ENTRIES IS NOW POSTED OVER AT BELLY-TIMBER. HEAD ON OVER AND CHECK OUT THE KING CAKE’S COMPETITION! WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOME TIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE… 

Tagged with: Paper Chef

Posted: Monday, January 9th, 2006 at 1:20 pm Filed under: Something Sweet, Breakfast/Brunch, Party Food, Food Blogging Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.