Kings of Cake

On New Year’s Day, I put my Christmas decorations in the attic, mark my calendar for January 6, and wait impatiently for Epiphany, the feast day that commemorates the Three Wise Men’s visitation to Jesus after his birth. I know I won’t be receiving gold, frankincense, or myrrh, but I will be sinking my teeth into something much sweeter—the first king cake of Mardi Gras season.

My fascination with the carnival-time confection started in my youth when my mother would take me shopping. The smells of vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon wafted through the grocery store on the wings of angels letting me know that the parades and parties would be just around the corner. Back then the cakes were smaller and were packaged in a plastic bag on top of a small piece of cardboard that served as a makeshift tray. The purple, green, and gold icing —symbolizing justice, faith, and power, respectively—would stick to the top of its plastic shroud, which made for messy serving and a lot of finger licking. I can remember my mom saying, “I know it’s a glorified coffee cake, but it is just so much better.”

The archetypal South Louisiana king cake finds its roots in Southern France and Northern Spain. Liz Williams, director of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans and king cake expert, laments there is not a solid history surrounding the cake. “Southern French cakes consisted of a brioche ring in the shape of a crown that was decorated with sugar,” she said. “This was the New Orleans predecessor. Northern France made the more traditional galette des rois made from puff pastry that encases an almond filling.” Sometime in the 1970s bakers began to make king cakes with danish dough. “They began treating the cakes like a danish,” she said, “so they began filling them with fruit and cream cheese.”

The final and perhaps most unique and controversial element, a small plastic baby, takes up residence inside the cake. Depending on who you ask, the baby represents the infant Jesus or health and prosperity. Finding the baby is a symbol of good things to come; more importantly, the finder is required to buy the next king cake. My husband, a true gentleman from Avoyelles Parish, always says, “If you find the baby, you have to fess up to it. If you don’t, things disintegrate into anarchy and society just falls apart.”

In recent years, many bakeries have begun placing the baby to the side of the cake and allowing the purchaser to hide him. Urban legends about children and the elderly choking on the trinkets abound, but there were no stories uncovered in either my or Liz Williams’ research about king-cake-related casualties. The FDA does have a rule that forbids non-edible items in food, but they have never been brave enough to set foot in New Orleans and enforce it.

Today the only limitations placed on king cakes dwell solely in the imagination of their bakers. The humble cake has been fused into bread pudding recipes and  cheesecakes; New Orleans bakery Debbie Does Doberge makes a traditional Doberge-style cake inspired by king cake flavors. Pastry Chef Maggie Scales of New Orleans’ Cochon restaurant is making her individual-size king cakes with a little pink pig instead of a Baby Jesus. Mudbug Brewery in Thibodaux brews King Cake Ale, a cinnamon- and-vanilla-infused beer. Taaka and Lucky Player also distill king cake vodka. I will debate the authenticity of its taste and warn that it can easily lead to a very unfortunate cinnamon-tongued hangover the next day. Of course, for those who do not wish to consume any calories, New Orleans-based company Fleur de Light makes a king cake-scented candle.

A query to friends on Facebook to name their favorite king cakes got more than fifty responses that detailed about twenty different groceries, bakeries, and restaurants. Things even got heated when two friends—one from Lafayette and the other from New Orleans—began to argue whether Meche’s donut king cake, being a donut and not a cake, should be considered. Another friend who recently returned to Louisiana from Texas vowed to try as many cakes as possible this season. “As God is my witness, I will never eat another king cake from Texas again,” she adamantly declared. Louisianans are fiercely loyal to their favorite bakery, most of which are worthy of a write-up. Unfortunately, it would be impossible to profile all of them. In the end, every king cake is special because it contains a little bit of Mardi Gras magic inside. We chose to profile the five cakes below because they showcase the diversity of offerings available this season, plus they are all quite tasty.

Haydel's King Cake 

A classic New Orleans king cake is worth waiting in line for. There are a few prestigious heavyweight contenders in this category, as well as many South Louisianans willing to pledge allegiance to their favorite bakery (and fight to the death for it).

Last year, Haydel’s Bakery took the cake and won the 2014 People’s Choice Award at the inaugural King Cake Festival. Haydel’s has been making king cakes the same way for the past forty years. They hand-braid their cakes to ensure that the cinnamon and sugar mix equally throughout the dough. The family is so committed to the process that two generations of Haydels currently work on the braiding line. After baking, fondant icing is applied to the cake and finally the purple, green, and gold sugar is added to the top. What really sets the cake apart is the hint of citrus flavor in the dough. The result is a smooth, complex cake so moist it doesn’t need a filling.

These days, you can get a Haydel's king cake shipped straight to you. It is worth the drive to their main bakery, though, to see the giant sculpture of a Mardi Gras-bead dog that stands guard out front. Haydel’s commissions a new canine companion every year and gives it away in a raffle to benefit local charities. haydelsbakery.com.

Ambrosia's Zulu King Cake

For the past twenty years Ambrosia Bakery has been baking its Zulu King Cake as homage to the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. The cake is often imitated, but nothing comes close to the original. Felix Sherman Jr. remembers his mother Cheryl, the founder of Ambrosia, making the beloved cakes. “It is a non-traditional cake. It is filled with chocolate chips and cream cheese and then topped with more chocolate and toasted coconut,” he said. “It is to die for.” Ambrosia will make well over fifteen thousand king cakes this year and their Zulu King Cake is one of the most popular. “Just today we shipped one all the way to Alaska,” he said. The cake has a unique decadence about it. It transcends a workplace treat and can be easily offered as an upscale dessert when paired with port wine or a Bailey’s and coffee. The Zulu King Cake is also a great idea late in the carnival season when the masses become tired of the sugar-topped traditional cakes. ambrosiabakery.com.

Poupart's Galette de Rois

Master baker and chef Francois Poupart and his wife immigrated from Bordeaux, France, in the 1960s. They settled in Lafayette, finding  themselves at home and frequently speaking their native language with locals. In 1967, the couple founded Poupart’s Bakery and brought a little bit of the old country to Lafayette. Poupart’s is one of the few bakeries to sell a traditional French king cake, or galette de rois, which consists of a layer of thick almond cream sandwiched between two circular layers of light, flaky puff pastry.

Most Louisianans wouldn’t even recognize this golden brown delight as a king cake. Tradition dictates that after baking, the cake is cut in as many pieces as people in attendance, and the lucky person to find the trinket inside receives a paper crown to wear for the day. The galette de rois reheats well and is best served warm with a cup of coffee while reading the morning paper. poupartsbakery.com.

Calandro's King Cake

Traditionally, grocery store king cakes have been the second class citizens of the Mardi Gras world. Calandro’s broke free of that mold, though, and doubled its business when, in 1995, it started offering a gourmet line of cakes with exotic flavors. A few of its designer delicacies include Mississippi Mud, Red Velvet, and Pralines and Cream; but the showstopper is the Better than Sex king cake. This tropical delight is filled with vanilla cake, pineapple cream cheese, coconut, and pecans. Blaise Calandro III shared the secret behind what makes a Calandro’s cake stand out: It is round, with a very small, or no, hole in the middle “which upsets some people, but this keeps the cake moist and allows for more filling,” he said.

Last year, the local grocery made nearly 18,350 king cakes. “We will sell everything that we bake and all of the cakes are baked fresh daily,” said baker Sam Rumfola. Despite the increased workload, Calandro’s doesn’t hire extra workers for the season. “We have a tremendous and very dedicated staff. They love making cakes and work from 6 am to 8 pm,” Rumfola said. “They look like cinnamon nightmares when they leave.” calandros.com.

Meche's King Cake

Why bake something when it can be fried? The people of Acadiana often refer to this beast of a cake as “The Big Donut” because it is. Meche’s starts with the same dough they use for their famous donuts, then the cinnamon is blended and the cake braided. The next stop is the deep fryer. There is no granulated sugar on top of a Meche’s cake because everyone knows a true donut is glazed. Streams of purple, green, and gold icing are drizzled over the top in an aesthetically pleasing cacophony of color that resembles a Jackson Pollock Mardi Gras masterpiece. 

These hefty donut cakes can also be filled with various options, but the Bavarian cream yields a truly decadent dessert worthy of the caloric intake. When sliced, a large donut cake can feed a family of sixteen, making it the perfect addition to a parade-day breakfast. mecheskingcakes.com.