The Cake Has a Baby in it?? Purple, Green, and Gold Beads??

….Must be a King Cake!!

A favorite Mardi Gras tradition is the King Cake!  It comes in a number of styles.  The most simple, said to be the most traditional, is a ring of twisted bread similar to that used in brioche topped with icing or sugar, usually colored purple, green and gold (the traditional Mardi Gras colors) with food coloring.  They are traditionally deep-fat-fried as a doughnut would be, and there are many variants, some in more recent years featuring a filling – the most common being cream cheese, praline, cinnamon, or strawberry.  A so-called “Zulu King Cake” has chocolate icing with a coconut filing, because the krewe of Zulu parade’s most celebrated throw is a coconut.  And the special surprise in the cake is a small plastic baby!  You’ll have a lucky and prosperous year if you get the slice with the baby in it.  But all the luck comes with an obligation…you have to proved next year’s King Cake!!

While Mardi Gras means many things to many people, one item that is incorporated into almost every Mardi Gras celebration is beads of every size, shape, and color.

But how did this tradition come to be? And more importantly what do those beads stand for? The bead phenomena is a relatively new one considering that while the first Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans occurred in the 1830s, it wasn’t until the Rex parade threw inexpensive handmade glass necklaces sometime in the 1920s that the tradition was born.

Since that time the Mardi Gras bead industry has grown larger with each year and the cries of “throw me something, Mister!” that parade goers yell to catch the attention of the floats passing by gets louder along with more creative ideas to secure those precious trinkets.

However, many people don’t know that the traditional Mardi Gras bead color scheme: purple, green, and gold holds special meaning as well. The Purple, represents justice; the Green symbolizes faith; and the Gold exemplifies power. Though as the celebrations grow larger with each year that passes, beads and necklaces now come in every shape and color imaginable.