Mardi Gras or as I like to call it... Pancake Tuesday

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes and Maple Butter Syrup (another Ree Drummond Favorite)

Ingredients

1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons White Sugar
½ teaspoons Salt
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
2 whole Eggs, Beaten
1 cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
¼ cups Butter, Melted
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Preparation

In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon with a whisk. Whisk well to make sure everything is combined. In separate large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, corn syurp, butter and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium/low heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle. Brown on both sides.Serve warm with icing drizzled over the top.

Icing

Ingredients

1 cup Powdered Sugar

¼ cups Butter, Melted

Dash Of Salt

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

¼ cups Whole Milk (more If Needed)

Preparation

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth, adding more milk as needed.

Mardi Gras Mask: Begin by cutting a heart out of yellow paper. Trace your hand on green and purple paper and cut it out. Glue the hands, thumbs together on the top of the heart. Cut out two holes for eyes. Cut out a moon shape for the mouth and decorate around the mouth with construction paper or markers. 

Mardi Gras Jester Hat: Cut out a long yellow strip to fit around your head and 6 small circles. Cut out 3 of each purple and green long triangles. Cut out small shapes in purple. glue the triangles around the inside of the strip and the circles on the end of the triangles. Glue the purple shapes at the base of each triangle. Staple in a circle to form the hat. 

Mardi Gras Pasta Bead Necklace:  Using your choice of pasta, start by dying the pasta. Place 2-3 drops of food colouring with a tbsp of vinegar in a bowl with a handful of pasta. Repeat with as many colours as desired. Once pasta is dry use string or yarn and lace the pasta to the desired length. 

Mardi Gras King Cake (from Barbara Bakes)

3 1/2

cups all-purpose flour

1

package (2 1/4 teaspoons) Rapid Rise yeast

1

cup milk

1/4

cup sugar

1

teaspoon salt

2

eggs

6

tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into 12 pieces

Cinnamon Filling

2/3

cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

4

tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Icing

1

cup powdered sugar

1

tablespoon milk

1/2

teaspoon vanilla

Dark green, purple, and yellow or gold sugars

1. Mix 2 1/2 cups flour and yeast in mixing bowl of stand mixer, on low for about 30 seconds.
2. Heat milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and milk is between 120°F to 130°F.
3. With mixer on low, pour in liquids and mix until incorporated. Add eggs one at a time. Continue mixing until a dough forms. Clean off paddle and switch to dough hook. Mix in the remaining 1 cup flour a little at a time, adding more or less flour as needed to make a soft dough. Add the softened butter, a piece at a time, kneading until each piece of butter is absorbed.
4. Knead for eight minutes on low. The dough should completely clear the sides of the bowl. If it is too sticky, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing in thoroughly before determining if more flour is needed. If the dough seems too dry, spritz with water from a spray bottle a couple of times, mixing in thoroughly before determining if more water is needed. 
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times by hand to be sure it’s smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball. Place dough into a greased bowl. Turn once so greased surface is on top. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. While the dough is chilling, make cinnamon filling. In small bowl, combine the brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Combine butter with cinnamon mixture and mix well.
7. Roll the chilled dough into a 10 x 20 inch rectangle. Spread the filling on half of the long side of the dough. Fold the dough in half covering the filling. Pat dough down firmly so the dough will stick together. Cut dough into three long strips. Press the tops of the strips together and braid the strips. Press the ends together at the bottom. Gently stretch the braid so that it measures 20 inches again. Shape it into a circle/oval and press the edges together.
8. Transfer the ring to a parchment lined or greased baking sheet. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350º. Bake the cake until it is golden brown, 20 – 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet and then place it on a cooling rack to cool completely before icing. To hide the baby in the cake, if desired, make a small slit in the bottom of the cake and put the miniature plastic baby in after the cake has cooled.
9. Icing: In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth (add additional milk if mixture is too thick or powdered sugar if too thin).
10. Spoon icing over top of the cake. Immediately sprinkle on colored sugar, alternating between the three colors.