Fat Tuesday treats include a sweet potato take on an old-school king cake and the iconic warm beignet. (AP)

NEW ORLEANS — For hours before a parade of glittering floats rolls down stately St. Charles Avenue, Carnival watchers are hard at work. Ice chests filled with food and drink soon give way to fired-up grills in the Mardi Gras equivalent to the world’s biggest tailgate party.

While boozing it up and flashing flesh get the headlines, the food cooked up or hauled to the parade routes is as much a part of Fat Tuesday as begging for beads and toasting the make-believe royalty with a cold one.

As the Carnival season wraps up with four days of almost nonstop parades, for residents – many of whom will give up their favorites for Lent – it’s a great reason to take their food to the streets where the fun is measured in the consumption of everything from gumbo to hot dogs to fried chicken, topped off with king cake and washed down with beer.

"Well, maybe a bloody mary for breakfast," said Barbara Spangenberg, a New Orleans native whose family has been staking out a spot along the parade route for generations, "But that or beer for sure.”

A sweet potato take on classic Mardi Gras king cake

By ELIZABETH KARMEL
The Associated Press

When I moved to New Orleans, I discovered that this was a city that – at least in terms of food – was a world to itself.

Many of its foods had little in common with those of the South I grew up in. Nearly everything was new and exciting and exotic. Some things, like the sherry-rich turtle soup and the spillway crayfish, I loved. Others, like the alligator sausage, I could never quite get used to.

But the thing I loved best was the Mardi Gras king cake. The original puff pastry version of la galette des rois was made by the occasional "French" bakery and was a simple, yet sophisticated affair with a beautiful flaky dough powdered with sugar. And, of course, a ceramic "baby" baked into it.

But the modern day king cake is a sweet Louisiana extravaganza and comes in more than 60 different "coffee-cake" like flavors, including king Creole pecan, apple, strawberry cream cheese, Bavarian cream and piña colada.

It is shaped like a great big baked donut and has a plastic baby stuck into the cake before it is decorated in purple (representing justice), green (representing faith) and gold (representing power) icing or sugar.

The king cake party tradition dictates that the person who gets the baby in his or her slice must host the next king cake party during Mardi Gras season.

During Mardi Gras, I would have a king cake party almost every day, and over the course of a few years I tried almost every flavor made. My favorite bakery boasted a "queen cake" made with Louisiana sweet potatoes. And every year since moving away, I crave it.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that I could take all the rich flavors of my favorite "queen cake" and make a sweet potato bread pudding (also very popular in New Orleans). I use stale raisin bread to achieve the cinnamon coffee-cake like flavor and texture of king cake, and baked garnet sweet potato puree to make the bread pudding custard rich and moist.

I also honor the revelry of Mardi Gras by topping it with whiskey hard sauce while it is still warm. Contrary to what it sounds like, it’s not actually a sauce. It’s more like a spread, until you put it on a hot dessert and the butter and sugar and whiskey melt and become a heady "sauce" that is truly the icing on the cake.

Hide a "baby" in the bread pudding once it comes out of the oven and before you ice it with the hard sauce, then carry on the Mardi Gras tradition.

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Whiskey Hard Sauce

The bread pudding can be made the day before it is baked and stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

Servings: 10

FOR THE SAUCE:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon best-quality bourbon or rye

Pinch of salt

FOR THE BREAD PUDDING:

8 cups torn or cubed stale raisin bread (about 1 large loaf)

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon mace

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 cups half-and-half

1 cup heavy cream

4 large eggs

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup mashed baked garnet sweet potatoes

To make the sauce, in a large bowl use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla, liquor and salt. Continue mixing until smooth and creamy. Cover and set aside. Also can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a month.

For the bread pudding, heat the oven to 350º. Coat a 2-quart baking dish or individual ramekins with cooking spray.

In a large bowl toss together the raisin bread with the pecans, then set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg and salt. Toss the sugar mixture over the bread and pecans, then stir well. Drizzle everything with the melted butter, then toss to evenly distribute.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, cream, eggs and brown sugar. Add the vanilla and sweet potatoes, then mix well. Pour the sweet potato-cream mixture over the bread mixture and stir until well blended. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then spoon into the prepared baking dish or ramekins.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (bake ramekins for just 15 to 20 minutes), or until set.

As soon as the bread pudding comes out of the oven, top with hard sauce so that it melts into the crevices. Serve warm.

A New Orleans guilty pleasure — airy, warm beignets

It may look like a doughnut. It may be filled or glazed like a doughnut. It may even be cooked like a doughnut. But don’t call it a doughnut.

It’s a beignet. And it’s one of New Orleans’ two iconic sweets (the other being the party loving king cake). With Mardi Gras approaching, it’s a perfect time to get to know beignets.

Truth is, beignets are a form of doughnut or fried dough. They originated in France, where the term is used to describe a wide variety of fried treats that are filled with fruit or jam. In New Orleans, they traditionally are served with a cup of coffee and chicory au lait.

To celebrate Mardi Gras, we’re offering our take on the beignet, a praline beignet with cafe au lait icing. And of course, you also could add the traditional showering of powdered sugar.

- The Associated Press

Praline Beignets with Café Au Lait IcingServings: 24

FOR THE BEIGNETS:
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
Canola oil, for frying

FOR THE ICING:
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon instant coffee
3 cups powdered sugar

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the milk to just lukewarm. You should still be able to comfortably leave your finger in the milk without it feeling too hot.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the warmed milk, yeast, brown sugar, 3 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix on low until the ingredients come together and form a smooth, elastic dough. If needed, add the remaining flour, a bit at a time, to form a soft, elastic dough.

Add the pecans and mix just until completely incorporated. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size.

When the dough is ready, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Lightly dust the counter with flour and turn the dough out onto it.

Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Using a pizza wheel or dough cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. Transfer the dough squares to the prepared baking sheet and cover with a clean towel. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, fill a large pot with about 2 inches of canola oil. Heat the oil over medium-high until it reaches 375º. Set a cooling rack over another sheet pan next to the stove.

When the oil is hot and the dough has rested, work in batches to fry the beignets. Using a slotted spoon, gently lower 3 to 4 dough squares into the hot oil and fry, turning once, until golden brown, puffed and cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the cooling rack and continue working in batches until all the beignets are fried.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream, water and instant coffee until the coffee is dissolved. Add the sugar and stir well until the mixture is smooth. Add more water or powdered sugar to adjust the consistency to be able to drizzle as a thick icing. Drizzle the icing over the warm beignets and enjoy warm.