Sweet, Savory And Spicy: It's King Cake Season In New Orleans - Forbes

King Cake, the sweet oval-shaped pastry topped with icing and sprinkles, used to be a New Orleans curiosity. Then, it got more attention as bakers appeared on TV shows, and began to ship their cakes nationwide.

This year, King Cake season is bigger than ever. No longer is King Cake confined to the sweet end of the spectrum, and New Orleans has gone out to make King Cake an event.

On Sunday, King Cake Hub. a pop up selling, what else, King Cake, held an official King Cake kickoff at its operations on Canal Street.

Jan. 6 marks the Feast of The Epiphany in the Roman Catholic Church, alternatively known as King's Day, and it's the start to the carnival season that will culminate on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday.

Even though King Cake can be found year-around, it's frowned upon to eat it except during carnival season (plenty of people do cheat, of course).

This year, New Orleanians and visitors will get nearly two months to enjoy King Cake, since Mardi Gras Day is March 5.

At the King Cake kickoff, there was a ceremonial first slice of King Cake, and the Panorama Brass Band played for the gathered onlookers. King Cake Hub is selling 28 different kinds of King Cake this season, and you can order the Ultimate King Cake package for $300 to try nine King Cakes exclusive to the Hub.

Later this month, there will be a King Cake Festival, kicking off Jan. 27 in Champions Square outside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. More than 20 bakeries will be on hand, and patrons can sample slices of King Cake for $1 each.

Traditionally, a King Cake comes with a little plastic baby, which is inserted into the cake, and whomever gets the baby is supposed to provide the next King Cake.

King Cake has been morphing from its original form, which is an oval-shaped brioche dough flavored with cinnamon, and often containing a filling. In the past, bakers stuck to the types of flavors you would find in Danish pastries.

But the palate has been expanding for a number of years, and in 2019, many new King Cake flavors are popping up in New Orleans (you can read about all of them in this story from Ann Maloney in the Times-Picayune).

Some of the most interesting being prepared at Bywater Bakery, in the Bywater neighborhood a short distance from the French Quarter.

Owner Chaya Conrad had already staked her claim to unusual King Cake flavors in past years. In 2018, I bought a bouille King Cake from her. It was filled with the kind of milk custard you find in Tarte a la Bouille, a Cajun specialty traditionally served in November and December.

This year, Conrad is going savory. She will offer King Cakes filled with boudin, the loose rice-meat sausage that is another Cajun favorite, as well as crawfish and a spinach and artichoke King Cake.

She's also planning rotating sweet flavors, such as passion fruit, lemon cream, and butterscotch ripple.

If a whole King Cake is too daunting, there are dozens of places across New Orleans where you can get just a slice. You can find sugar free, gluten free and even vegan King Cakes.

Breads on Oak, known for its vegan version, is treading into spicy territory this year. It is selling a VooDoo King Cake, which has ghost and cayenne pepper mixed with vegan cream cheese.

Every year seems to bring a new King Cake darling. Last year, Dong Phuong, the Vietnamese bakery that has won a James Beard Award, became the center of attention.

Its King Cake has a cult following, and it got so many individual orders that it cut off its usual deliveries to shops and grocery stores. As a result, housands of people traveled to the east side of New Orleans to stand in line to nab one of its King Cakes.

I ordered online and was able to skip the line.

This year, Dong Phuong has managed its inventory so its cakes will be available at some stores around town. And, King Cake isn't only available in pastry form.

King Cake has become a popular seasonal ice cream flavor, which you now can buy nationally from Blue Bunny. There are King Cake doughnuts. King Cake flavored alcohol. And many more King Cake concoctions.

The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates at least 750,000 King Cakes are sold there each year. Given that King Cake sells for about $20 on average, and that the prices of gourmet King Cakes are much higher, King Cake revenue is a significant economic driver in the food business.

So grab a slice, check out the many bakeries selling King Cake, and see if you can buy it where you live. I've found King Cake everywhere from Boston to Phoenix, although there's nothing like a New Orleans baked King Cake.

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