I recently realized how much food has played a part in my memories of the places I've lived and traveled to. We are about one month away from Mardi Gras, and in high school, we would bring king cake to class.
What is a king cake? King cake is a cinnamon sugar pastry (sometimes braided) in the shape of an "O". It can be filled with a plethora of fillings, then topped with icing and Mardi Gras colors. A plastic baby is hidden in the cake, and whoever receives the piece with the baby in it has to buy the next cake. In some families, you're treated like a king for a day...but we never followed that when I was in high school.
You can have king cakes shipped to you, but without personally tasting the cakes, it will be hard to tell if it's the one you like. For example, some king cakes do not include fillings of any kind - it's just the cinnamon dough braided and formed into an "O". I prefer the ooey gooey fillings. Luckily my family agrees with me. However, *which* filling is the one thing none of us can agree. I love the Cherry, Strawberry or Raspberry filling, and I love it even better with either Bavarian Cream or Cream Cheese. I think Cherry Bavarian is my all time favorite. My brother will not touch cream cheese and prefers not to be near Bavarian cream. My parents enjoy pralines; I can't stand them. We always end up ordering more than one cake.
After searching for Atlanta bakeries with great king cakes and not finding anything like my high school favorites, I turned to Facebook to ask my friends still in the area to ship one or two out to me. My great friends have sent me several links for bakeries in Southwest Louisiana to ship cakes.
Here are my top 3 contenders:
Pronia's Deli - Lake Charles, LA - baked from scratch. Fillings include: strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, cream cheese, Bavarian cream, apple, pecan praline, coconut cream, apple cinnamon pecan, or any combination of 2 flavors. According to their website, they ship for under $30.
Meche's Donut King - Lafayette, LA - FRIED king cake. Fillings include: plain, blueberry, blueberry cream cheese, chocolate, lemon, raspberry, raspberry cream cheese, Bavarian cream, cream cheese. Option of 2 fillings, one for each half. According to their website, the cake is $29 plus shipping (about $19 to Atlanta).
Market Basket - Moss Bluff, LA - baked in the local grocery store with a variety of fillings. I can't find specifics online, but I remember the cakes reasonably priced.
To be completely honest, I may need to order from more than one to satisfy every one in the family.
More to come once a decision is made, and definitely more when I eat the king cakes! :)
Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!
