On Assignment » Blog Archive » What’s a kingcake?

Feb062008

What’s a kingcake?

Filed under General, humor, staff by bob hammerstrom at 3:56 pm

What’s a kingcake?, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

When I had first site of it, it looked like a round tea ring with way,
way too much frosting, in multiple colors. And, it looked like a small
child had dropped a few small toys inside while decorating this birthday
cake.

As fellow staff photographer Grant Morris tore open the Fed Ex box sent
to him by his mother, he exclaimed, “It’s a kingcake.” Now since the
holiday had passed just a couple weeks ago, I’m thinking “Why would
somebody decorate a cake like that to celebrate Martin Luther King Day?”
What’s up with this new fella from New Orleans? Was this a family
tradition to received a birthday cake by FedEx, piled with loads of
colorful frosting, topped with confetti, stuffed with long-lost trinkets
from a sibling’s toy box, and accompanied by colored necklaces and a
golden mask? Is he a new Super hero?

Well, now I’m embarrassed to find out all the people in New Orleans get
these cakes each year. Just not in a FedEx box! It’s a tradition for
those southerners to throw parties during the 12 days of Mardi Gras. And
the baby inside the cake wasn’t accidentally dropped into the cake
batter by a passing toddler. After Googling Mardy Gras, I found the
official web site, with a history about the festival. Check out
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/. The festive custom of including the
baby in the cake derives from the Christian holiday, with the three
kings coming to see the birth of Jesus. Check out this site for more
info on the holiday.

So someday, if I’m every honored enough to receive a kingcake, complete
with a miniature Barbie protruding from the rainbow of frosting, I’ll
know that it didn’t come from a small child next door, and it wasn’t for
my birthday!

-Bob Hammerstrom

Tags: King Cake, Mardi Gras, Morris