Making King Cakes

Ta da! Carson's cake is done.

I really don't know what he's looking at but he loved the sprinkles!

Cullen was careful about doing his sprinkles.

Mission accomplished!

Today we made two King Cakes; one for each of the boys to bring to school since they both got the babies in their class King Cakes last week. I thought it would be a fun family activity but for most of this "family activity" I was in the kitchen trying to make King Cakes and tend to a fussy teething baby while the boys jumped on the trampoline. However, when it came time for the icing and the sprinkles the boys were ready to help! They had to help in stages since I only made enough dough for one cake the first time. When Carson iced his cake and got to lick the spoon when done he declared the icing "Just right; I wouldn't change a thing" (it was confectioners sugar and a small bit of milk; how can you go wrong with basically straight sugar?). We just put a standard little plastic baby in Carson's cake. Cullen loved doing his cake too. I actually put a gold coin (from a pirate birthday party) in Cullen's class cake. Originally beans or gold coins were put into King Cakes; the plastic baby tradition didn't start until the 1900's. I thought a gold coin was more fun than a bean. Cullen's cake was the second one and looked a lot more like a normal King Cake. I knew the first one was the worst one so I made that for Carson's class. First graders are much less judgemental about things than third graders. As they get older they are a much tougher crowd! Next time I will spend $5 and buy a King Cake from Wal-Mart when I just need one for their classes.