Windsor residents learn the art of king cake

King cakes usually include a baby figurine, but Sonja Carpenter, life enrichment coordinator for The Windsor of Lakewood Ranch, said she usually chooses to keep that out of her recipe. 

Carpenter held a demonstration for residents Wednesday, Jan. 6, about her recipe and the history of the colorful pastry, a yeast-based sweet bread with icing and sweet filling. The icing usually has purples, greens and yellows to decorate it. Although the pastry's origins come from a bread supposedly given to the Three Magi when they visited Jesus as a baby, it has now become associated with New Orleans culture and the celebration of Mardi Gras. The timing of the demonstration was perfect, as today marked the first day of parades in New Orleans leading up to Fat Tuesday, which is Tuesday, Feb. 9. 

"In Louisiana, we've been making king cake for hundreds of years," Carpenter said.