Celebrating Shrove Tuesday: The End of Carnival

It’s almost time for Shrove Tuesday, also called Pancake Day, Mardi Gras, and Carnival. And I’m excited, not only because we will eat pancakes and King Cake, but because it means we are only a day away from Lent, my favorite season of the year.

This day always feels like standing in a doorway. One foot still in the light of Epiphanytide, the other preparing to step into the quiet of Lent.

The End of Carnival

If you are like me, when you think of this day, you might picture rich foods, elaborate parades, huge crowds, beads flying through the air, and excessive partying. And yes, Carnival is filled with celebration and merrymaking.

But the word Carnival itself tells a deeper story. It comes from the Latin expression carne levare, meaning “remove meat.” It is a farewell to rich foods. A clearing of the larder. A last feast before the fast.

Historically, Christians used this day to empty their homes of foods they would not consume during Lent: meat, butter, eggs, cream, and sugar. It was both practical and joyful. We feast because we are about to fast.

Even in New Orleans, where Mardi Gras has become deeply secularized, the rhythm of the Church still quietly shapes the day. There are no parades after mid-afternoon, honoring the tradition that a more penitential time begins at sundown. And at midnight, the celebration ends. Police officers move through the streets announcing that the party is over, followed by street sweepers clearing away the remnants of the revelry.

At the stroke of midnight, Mardi Gras is over. Lent has begun.

It is a dramatic reminder: joy has its season. So does repentance.

Shrove Tuesday and Other Names

The name Shrove Tuesday points to the penitential character of the day. The word shrove comes from the Old English word “shrift,” meaning to confess one’s sins.

Traditionally, church bells would ring to call the faithful to confession before the beginning of Lent. People would bring their palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday to be burned into ashes for the Ash Wednesday service. The same branches that once shouted “Hosanna” would now mark foreheads with the sign of repentance.

Mardi Gras and Pancake Day, by contrast, highlight the feasting traditions. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday.” Pancake Day refers to simple bread made with eggs and milk, two ingredients traditionally given up during Lent.

Across the world, Christians developed food traditions to use up their rich ingredients.

In Mexico and Spain, families make what we call French toast.

In France, King Cake fills bakery windows.

In the United Kingdom, pancakes are flipped in kitchens and raced through village streets.

In Germany and Poland, doughnuts filled with jam or cream are prepared.

In Ukraine, thin pancakes called blini are served.

Different foods. Same instinct.

Feast well, because tomorrow we fast.

Celebrate Shrove Tuesday at Home

If you’d like to observe this day with your family, here is a simple guide.

Let your children decorate the house with inexpensive Mardi Gras beads. Hang them from chandeliers, drape them across dining chairs, let color and joy fill the room. Allow them to dress up. Make simple masks. Lean into merriment. This is not excess for excess’s sake; it is a grand celebration before holy restraint.

Prepare rich foods. Pancakes piled high with whipped cream and syrup. Sausage and bacon. King Cake or doughnuts. Use the butter. Pour the cream. Scatter the colored sugar. We are celebrating the goodness of the Lord before entering a season of austerity.

If you’d like to add a bit of whimsy, hold a pancake race. In England, the church bells of Olney became known as the “pancake bell.” Legend tells of a woman so busy cooking pancakes that she ran to church, still flipping one in her pan. To this day, pancake races are held in her memory. Give your children cool pans with already-cooked pancakes and let them run a small course while flipping them.

Feast. Laugh. Make a little noise.

And then, when the plates are cleared and the children are ready for bed, gather together.

Transition the tone gently. Light a candle. Explain that you are entering a new season called Lent, a time set aside to prepare your hearts for Easter. Tell them that your family will mark this season by making changes: eating more simply, praying more intentionally, reading Scripture more regularly, and giving alms to the poor.

Invite them to consider what they might give up or take up.

Close by reading Isaiah 25:6–9 together, the promise of a greater feast to come.

Shrove Tuesday is not just about pancakes.

It is about movement.

From fullness to fasting.

From noise to quiet.

From celebration to repentance.

And in that movement, we remember that every fast is preparing us for a feast far greater than we can imagine.

the recipe -

King Cake

Ingredients for the Brioche:

1 envelope of Active Dry Yeast

1/4 cup warm water (115 degrees)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons orange zest

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces

1 egg beaten and 2 Tablespoons water for the egg wash

1 plastic baby trinket or dried bean

Dissolve the yeast in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, and let stand until frothy. Dissolve the salt, sugar, orange zest, and milk in a small bowl. When dissolved combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture. Mix the cinnamon with the flour.

Add the eggs with the mixer on low speed, then gradually add the flour until all is incorporated. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes until a smooth elastic dough is formed. A little more flour may be necessary. With the motor running, incorporate the butter into the dough, a little at a time but rather quickly so that it doesn’t heat up and melt.

Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, loosely cover it with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour in a warm spot. When the dough has doubled in bulk punch it down, cover, and place it in the refrigerator overnight. You can skip this step if you are pressed for time.

The following day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roll the dough out to a 6 x 18-inch rectangle. Spread the pecan filling (recipe below) out in the middle of the rectangle along the whole length, leaving about 1 1/2 inches on each side. Place

the baby trinket somewhere with the filling. Fold the length of the dough over the filling and roll up tightly, leaving the seam side down. Turn the roll into a circle, seam side down and put one end inside of the other to hide the seam, and seal the circle. Place the cake on a baking sheet and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Brush all over with the egg wash, then place the king cake into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. When the cake cools, brush with some of the glaze (recipe below) thinned out with more cold water. This will help the sugars adhere. Decorate the cake with the colored sugars and drizzle some of the thicker glaze onto the cake. Place on a large round serving plate and decorate with Mardi Gras beads, doubloons, and whatever else that you like.

Ingredients for the filling:

1 cup pecan halves, broken up slightly and roasted

until fragrant

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 pinch of salt

4 tablespoons Steen’s Cane Syrup

Combine all of the ingredients.

For the glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon bourbon

water

Combine the sugar and bourbon, and whisk in enough water to make a glaze that can be drizzled.

For the sugar topping:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Food coloring

Place 1/4 cup of sugar in three sandwich baggies. In the first baggie, add drops of yellow food coloring. Close the bag, squeezing the air out and mash around until the yellow food coloring is evenly distributed. In the second baggie, do the same thing but add green food coloring. In the third add blue and red food coloring to get purple.

Sprinkle the colored sugars over the glazed King Cake in strips of purple, yellow and green.