Mardi Gras parades may be cancelled
this year, but king cake lives on! Here are six places to get a cake that's fit
for a king.
According
to song, on the 12th day of Christmas, true love is to send 12 drummers
drumming. Well, Twelfth Night has officially arrived. Those drummers are notably
abstaining in the ongoing effort to contain the spread of COVID-19—but local
bakers are making sure that king cake is here for us. The traditional dessert
is roughly 300 years old (possibly reaching as far back as ancient Rome) and
much improved from the early days of dry bread sprinkled with sugar. Today's
king cakes are works of pastry arts, a tribute to history, and a cultural
must-have in the city of New Orleans. So much of this Mardi Gras season will be
different, but king cake will still taste as sweet.
Maple Street Patisserie
A
European-style bakery in Uptown New Orleans, Maple Street Patisserie offers a
continent of flavor. In Europe's tradition of refined technique, Master Baker
Ziggy's recipes avoid preservatives and sugar rushes in favor of a Goldie
Locksian just-right level of sweetness. Together with Executive Chef Donohue,
the team puts craftsmanship into all their creations—the puff pastry king cake
is proof.
Haydel's Bakery
Haydel's is the reigning king of king cakes,
or at least the Guinness World Record
holder for world's largest king cake. In 2010, Haydel's broke a Houston
bakery's record with a 3,007-pound king cake that wrapped around the inside of
the Superdome. Next, they immediately shattered that king-sized record with a second, 4,073-pound king cake that
circled the outside of the Dome. Taste a slice of history in the form of
delicious Danish dough and fondant icing. If you aren't one for icing, a
sugar-only option is available. Should you land on the other side of that
controversial divide, Haydel's has filled king cakes if you believe that cake
is mostly just a vehicle for frosting.
Sucré Sucré is back under new ownership with
all your old favorite desserts. The très chic boutique
bakery closed in 2019, one year after The
Times-Picayune reported on several employees raising internal complaints of
sexual misconduct against Sucré co-founder Tariq Hanna. The local MeToo story
revealed an unsavory side to the storybook-esque sweets shop. Sucré went dark
for a year and a half, until December 2020, when Ayesha Motwani revitalized the
original Magazine Street location. Onboard for this new chapter is Sucré's
previous executive pastry chef, Ashley McMillan, who told Fox8 that Sucré's closing came as a shock;
her post there had been her "forever plan." McMillan is bringing back all her
perfected confections, macarons, and hand-spun gelato—including the shimmering,
sugary king cake. It tastes as spectacular as it looks on your Instagram. 3025 Magazine St., (504) 354-9635, shopsucre.com
Nor Joe's Imports
In
Old Metairie, an Italian deli is disrupting the king cake world with its
innovative ideas. Nor Joe's
Cannoli King Cake with creamy cannoli filling is the hybrid dessert you never
knew you needed. While you're there, pick up a Nor-Joe muffaletta to balance
out your palate. That is how it
works, right?
Caluda's Bakery
For
fans of flavored king cake, Caluda's
Bakery is the answer. Savor every week of Mardi Gras season with a rotating
specialty flavor—think maple bacon praline or Bananas Foster. The bakery is
based in Harahan, but there's no need to travel to get a fix for your sweet
tooth since Caluda's traditional king cakes are available at PJ's Coffee
locations throughout the New Orleans area. Order a whole cake for your own
celebration and select the "Parade KIT," which allows you to ice the cake
yourself to your preference and comes with a king cake history card, baby, cup,
beads, and doubloons.
Reginelli's Pizzeria
It's
time to visit the Reginelli's
near you because they have a different but delicious option on the table: King
Cake Bread Pudding. In it, the dessert king falls in love with a commoner, and
their marriage is divine. Wait, you don't come up with fairytale stories for
your desserts? Maybe you'll have a myth to make for Reginelli's matching King
Cake Cocktail after a drink or two. Or perhaps you'd rather enjoy your treats
paired with a Cajun Crawfish Pizza and leave it at that. Good idea. Definitely
don't want to start making up stories for those crawfish. Unless...
