It’s that time of the year where people literally have an excuse to get drunk, accessorize with shiny bead necklaces and glittery masks, all while eating traditional New Orleans cuisines. Yep, its Mardi Gras season! While Tuscaloosa is no Bourbon Street, Brad and I brought some classic drinks and food that will get you in the festive mood!
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri:
When Brad first suggested that we should review this drink, I was all ears.
For me, Strawberry + Alcohol = a match made in heaven. With just a few ingredients, you too can make this easy sweet drink that is perfect for any Mardi Gras celebration. The only bad thing about this drink is that you can barely taste any of the alcohol (it’s that good so drink with caution)! So with that, here is what you will need to make the perfect frozen strawberry daiquiri!
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces of White Rum (this is just a suggestion of course)
- ¾ of an ounce of lime juice
- 1 cup of fresh strawberries (or just do what Brad and I do and throw some strawberries into a blender and hope for the best)
- A Stanley cup full of ice
- 1 ounce of simple syrup (again just a suggestion)
- A splash of strawberry Grenadine syrup (don’t forget it like Brad and I)!
Materials:
- A blender
- A ‘chilled’ glass (but a Styrofoam cup will suffice as well)
Directions:
- Pretty self-explanatory
Click here for the original video!
Overall rating: 9/10 I would pay $8.99 for this drink it’s that good.
Frozen Watermelon Daiquiri:
Just like the strawberry daiquiri, this drink is also a sweet, refreshing drink perfect for any Mardi Gras celebration (and just like the strawberry daiquiri, dangerously good too). So with that, here is what you will need to make the perfect frozen watermelon daiquiri!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups frozen watermelon chunks (yeah, we didn’t freeze the watermelon, but it still tasted heavenly)
- 1 ½ ounces of white rum (again just a suggestion)
- 1 ounce lime juice
- A splash of simple syrup
- A Stanley cup of ice
- Lime wheel (yeah, we weren’t that fancy and didn’t garnish the drink)
Materials:
- A blender
- Some sort of glass (but if you are a college student like Brad and I, we will allow Styrofoam or red solo cups).
Directions:
- …
Click here for the original video!
Overall rating: 8/10 a delicious drink but I like strawberry way more than watermelon hence the lower rating.
Now although drinks are vital to any Mardi Gras celebration, you need to bring along some classic New Orleans cuisines to make your celebration that much sweeter!
King cake:
For as long as I can remember, my family and I have always celebrated Mardi Gras with a king cake. As a matter of fact, this year my dad ordered one from a famous café down in New Orleans (and it was delicious)! Since Brad and I were doing all things Mardi Gras this week, I decided to try to make a king cake myself!
Before I continue to the recipe, there is a few things I need to warn you about when it comes to making a King Cake.
- There are a lot of ingredients when it comes to making a King Cake from scratch. I suggest going to Aldi’s to get the ingredients!
- I assumed the entire process of baking a King Cake would take maybe an hour and a half at most. THIS PROCESS TAKES OVER FIVE HOURS SO I WAS UP UNTIL ONE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING BAKING THIS CAKE.
- Although it took an eternity to make, this was a damn good cake (yeah, I’m patting myself on the back for this one).
- Sadly., I couldn’t find purple, green, and yellow sprinkles at Aldi’s and was left with gaudy orange sprinkles (the only bad thing about this cake). Take the time to go find the right sprinkles.
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅔ cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- ½ cup white sugar, divided (read the instruction closely I messed this part up)
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ⅔ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup raisins (how to ruin a cake)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup melted butter
Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 plastic baby doll ( a choking hazard but if you want to know more about the history of this click here)
- SPRINKLES (don’t use gaudy orange sprinkles like I did)
Directions:
- Make pastry: Scald milk over medium heat (meaning make the milk hot). Remove from heat and stir in butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Stir together warm water, 1 tablespoon white sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add cooled milk mixture to yeast mixture and whisk in eggs. Stir in remaining white sugar (this is the part I messed up), salt, and nutmeg. Beat flour, 1 cup at a time, into milk/egg mixture. Once dough comes together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours(yeah my jaw dropped). When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
- Make filling: Combine brown sugar, pecans, flour, raisins, and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour melted butter on top and mix until crumbly.
- Roll each piece of dough into a 10×16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle filling evenly over dough and roll up tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at a wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval-shaped rings.
- Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors, make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1-inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes (the recipe really went “sike you got to wait longer”).
- Bake in the preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Check often for doneness so the ring doesn’t overbake.
- Make glaze: Stir together confectioners’ sugar and water in a bowl until smooth.
- Push doll into bottom of one warm cake (They don’t sell little plastic babies at Aldi’s, so I did hide a baby in my cake). Drizzle glaze over both warm cakes (or be like me and make it into one monster King Cake).
Check out the recipe here along with the history of the King Cake!
Overall rating: 11/10 blood, sweat, and tears went into this cake but oh my goodness it is delicious.
Mo’bay beignets:
After the back pain I had endured from baking the King Cake, I decided just to visit Mo’bay Beignets instead. I didn’t even know this shop existed until our director recommended it!
This little shop is truly a hidden gem as its snuggled behind University Boulevard in the downtown area. I’m here to tell you that these are some of the best beignets I have ever had (like stop reading this blog and grab you some beignets from Mo’Bays)!
Brad and I reviewed the mini beignets along with the three dipping sauces they offered- buttercream, cinnamon, and Mardi Gras (seasonal sauce). If you want to see Brad and I make a huge mess with the unholy amount of confectioners’ sugar we got and our opinions on the dipping sauces, click here!
Overall ratings:
- Beignet by itself: 10/10 (you can’t go wrong with a classic)
- Buttercream sauce: 7/10 (a little sweet but not too bad)
- Cinnamon sauce: 17/10 (I kept double dipping it was so good)
- Mardi Gras: -4/10 (taste like a cavity)
By Madison Corley and Brad Hatchel
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