King cake at Carnival time – it’s instinctual in New Orleans. And yet this year much is different. Parades are canceled and in a time of social distancing many of the social spaces where we usually find king cake have changed, from parties to schools to offices.
Days before Twelfth Night, king cake preparation was already in high gear at Adrian’s Bakery in Gentilly. Buckets of purple, green and gold su…
But, as always, from Twelfth Night through Mardi Gras Day, king cake will be everywhere.
Here’s a rundown on key factors in play for a season like no other.
Curbside king cake and delivery
Boxes at Gambino's await shipping as king cake season commences yet again.
The now familiar measures to keep people safe while keeping businesses open should have a big role for king cakes this season. That includes pre-orders, curbside pickup and local delivery.
One prominent example is Dong Phuong. King cakes from this Vietnamese bakery in New Orleans East usually draw throngs of people, though with coronavirus risk that is precisely what the bakery is trying to avoid this year.
Yellow sprinkles land on a fresh-from-the-oven Dong Phuong king cake. (Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune archive) ()
So Dong Phuong won’t offer walk-up service for king cakes at all. Instead, it’s using pre-orders for curbside pickup at the bakery, with cakes shuttled out to customers in the parking lot, carhop style.
Dong Phuong has also shipping nationally and expanded its roster of “official re-sellers,” a network of other shops and restaurants that regularly stock their cakes. You can find that information at dpbakeshop.com/official-resellers.
The first of the first, Erin Eagan snags 5 king cakes on opening day of Carnival 2016 at Manny Randazzo bakery (Photo by Doug MacCash / NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
King Cake Hub, a one-stop-shop for cakes from many different bakers, has a pre-order pickup station at its new location this year, now at the Broad Theater. It’s also using the delivery service DoorDash to dash cake orders direct to your door.
Another example is the locally-based service D’Livery, which offers the same door-to-door delivery for restaurants, many of which will have king cake and king cake inspired desserts on their menus.
Shipping with the pros or DIY
Manny Randazzo King Cake, 3515 N Hullen St, Metairie, pecan praline king cake.
Carnival season has long seen king cakes shipped around the country, and this should a banner year for that piece of the business.
Through the pandemic, many restaurants and food businesses have built a lifeline by shipping New Orleans flavors to expats, frequent visitors stuck at home and others who want to support them from a far. King cakes are a natural fit for the format.
The cafe tables were empty and the display cases were barren at Loretta’s Authentic Pralines on North Rampart Street. But in back, Loretta Har…
Specialty food shipping services move a great deal of king cake around the country every year. The national service Goldbelly, for instance, handles king cakes from Joe Gambino’s Bakery and Maurice French Pastries. The local shipping service NOLA Cajun has its own line of king cakes ready to go. Plenty of king cake makers ship themselves, including mom-and-pop bakeries and local grocery chains. Look for many more to get into the shipping game this year.
Hi-Do Baker, at 439 Terry Pkwy, Terrytown, makes a traditional king cake with no white icing, just sugar and a classic buttery dough.
But don’t leave your king cake shipping options up to a Google search.
If you have a favorite bakery that doesn’t ship, the DIY solution is readily in hand. Buy one, box it and ship it out yourself. People who are out of the market and have friends or family in town can assign one of them to the task as their ground team here in New Orleans.
The king cake from La Petite Sophie in River Ridge, outside New Orleans, has a crunchy crisp exterior and a mellow trickle of cinnamon within.
Getting creative and finding your own ways to connect has meant everything to the small businesses struggling through the pandemic. King cake will find a way.
The Saints effect
Bakers at Haydel's Bakery pour on gold sugar on black and gold king cakes in preparation for a New Orleans Saints play-off game on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018.
Like so much else in New Orleans life, the Saints have a powerful sway on king cake. Bakers around the area say when the team makes the playoffs, king cake sales typically soar as Who Dats scoop up king cakes for game day parties. It probably helps that postseason games arrive just as Carnival season begins and king cake mania is high.
It was more than normal home team loyalty that had David Haydel carefully tracking the New Orleans Saints’ playoff prospects as the team’s rec…
Playoff game watch parties will (hopefully) be smaller gatherings this year, but there’s no reason to think they won’t include king cake. In a time when every sale matters more to local businesses, here’s one more reason to wish the Saints have a deep playoff run.
42 days of king cake
Chaya Conrad, owner of Bywater Bakery, cleared off a Christmas sign and replaces it with a king cake sign on Kings's Day in New Orleans, Jan. 6, 2019.
Carnival this year counts as a mid-range season, with Mardi Gras falling on Feb. 16. That gives you 42 days of potential king cake consumption between Twelfth Night and Fat Tuesday.
By comparison, last year we had 51 days in the season, with Mardi Gras on Feb. 25. Next year, the 2022 season will be considerably longer, lasting through March 1.
For those who count king date days more closely that king cake calories, this year’s six-week season means you have plenty of time to reunite with old favorites and try new contenders.
More than cake is at stake
Kings' Day at Antoines Famous Cake Bakery in Gretna, La. Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Finally, amid all flurry of sugar and marketing hoopla that always attends the return of king cakes, remember that they represent a cornerstone for many businesses.
For some, Carnival season king cake sales are their primary source of revenue; for many others these sales make a difference in the bottom line that resonates year-round.
Mayhew Bakery opened in Faubourg St. John just three months ago. But baker Kelly Mayhew has been building a following for years, starting with…
In a way, it has helped underwrite the revival of the neighborhood bakery in New Orleans, adding a season of indulgence (and spending) at a time when post-holiday diets put the damper on the dessert businesses elsewhere.
This year, with businesses of all sorts on the ropes, every sale will matter more.
As late as November, 73-year history seemed about to end
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