While this year’s traditional Mardi Gras festivities of parades and balls have been canceled because of the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus, the spirit of Mardi Gras lives on in communities around South Louisiana. The song “If Ever I Cease to Love,” adopted by the Rex krewe in 1872 as the official song of Mardi Gras, can be likened to the fervent love of Mardi Gras revelry that remains even when there are no brightly colored floats with masked riders throwing much sought-after doubloons and beads. Two of the lines in the song, “May fish get legs and cows lay eggs, if ever I cease to love,” could describe just how ingrained the love of Mardi Gras is for many in our area.

Unwilling to let the holiday pass without some type of merriment, neighbors in New Orleans, and on our own Main Street in New Iberia, have preserved the spirit of carnival by erecting Yardi Gras decorations and transforming houses and yards into Mardi Gras floats.

This is not the first time in history that Mardi Gras has been cancelled, and in New Orleans the festivities have been cancelled over a dozen times. Wars, labor disputes, mob violence, and even epidemics such as the Yellow Fever Outbreak in 1879, and the Spanish Flu in 1919 caused parades to be suspended.

Though the good times are not rolling through our cities in the traditional way, the jovial spirit of Mardi Gras remains, and can still be experienced through the Cajun dishes that have become a part of our celebratory culture.

The King Cake, which can be found in bakeries and grocery stores throughout Acadiana during the Mardi Gras season, is the most well-known food enjoyed at this time. This oval-shaped cake, filled or unfilled, and decorated with the Mardi Gras colors of green, purple, and gold, is associated with the visit of the three Kings, or Magi, to the Christ Child.

One unique variety of King Cake, the French King Cake, or Galette des Rois, is made by a talented local pastry chef, Elizabeth Shensky. In a visit to Paris, while studying in Italy at the culinary school of the Florence University of Arts, she tasted this indulgent French variation. Remembering her fondness for this not too sweet confection composed of layers of puff pastry filled with almond cream, she started experimenting with recipes to perfect one of her own. With her formal training in Italy, and hands-on culinary training in New York City and Province Town, Massachusetts, Elizabeth has brought her talents to New Iberia at her family-owned restaurant, Caribbean Ice Company. Here can be found this French delicacy composed of layers of puff pastry dough with an almond cream filling complimented by bits of candied cranberries and orange. Incorporating only the best ingredients into this pastry, she also uses butter imported from the dairy region of France. This butter, which makes up half the puff pastry dough, along with unbleached organic flour, salt and water, is extra dry, contains two to three percent more fat and provides for a better consistency of the dough. Elizabeth’s culinary creativeness is now inspiring her to experiment with new flavors of cream filling such as pistachio and cherry, so we can be assured of many delectable varieties to come.

As we wait to celebrate a more traditional Mardi Gras holiday in 2022, we can still enjoy other favorite Cajun delicacies associated with the season. Cracklins, gumbo, jambalaya, and the lesser-known Carnival confection, the Moon Pie, a coveted throw in some Mardi Gras parades, can still be found in abundance, and enjoyed.

The following recipe is a healthy and colorful version of a favorite pound cake which will sweeten our memories during this very unconventional Mardi Gras, as we look forward to once again singing, “Oh it’s Mardi Gras time and everybody’s having fun!”

SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Vegetable cooking spray

All-purpose flour

1 (18.25 oz.) package reduced fat yellow cake mix

½ cup sugar

1 (8 oz.) container fat-free sour cream

1 cup egg substitute

¾ cup applesauce

1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

Raspberry Sauce

Garnishes: powdered sugar, fresh mint sprigs

Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray, and sprinkle with flour, shaking to coat pan.

Beat cake mix and next 5 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer 4 minutes, spoon into pan.

Bake at 325* for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Serve with Raspberry Sauce; garnish, if desired.

Yield: 16 servings

RASPBERRY SAUCE:

4 (10 oz.) packages frozen raspberries, thawed

4 teaspoons sugar

Process both ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour through a wire-mesh strainer, discarding seeds. Chill 1 hour.

Yield: 3 cups