Haydel’s Bake Shop: King Cake (New Orleans, LA)

Dessert Profile

Flavor: King Cake

Ingredients: Flour, sugar, eggs, yeast, salt, palm oil, icing

Price: $18.75

Calories: 200+ Calories

Three-word Review: Flashing Doughy Goodness

Score: 6.3

About: Haydel's Bakery

Since its founding in 1959 as a small, 24-hour window-service bakery by Mildred and Lloyd Haydel, Haydel’s Bakery has since become a legendary New Orleans-area institution for its wide variety of scratchmade cakes, cookies, pastries, and more family-recipe NOLA-inspired treats – and its king cakes are a Mardi Gras tradition for countless locals. Haydel’s is today run by the third-generation of the Haydel family, and owner David Haydel is the only baker in Louisiana who’s internationally certified as a Craftsman and Master Baker. In 2010, Haydel’s even broke the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest King Cake.

The King Cake:

The king cake is a traditional pastry associated with Mardi Gras and Epiphany (Three Kings’ Day), especially in Louisiana and other regions with French and Spanish influence. It symbolizes the arrival of the Three Wise Men to visit baby Jesus, marking the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Carnival. The small plastic baby hidden inside the cake is considered lucky and the person who finds it is blessed for the year. However, this also comes with a responsibility—typically, the person must host the next King Cake party or provide the next cake.

Chef's Note

Haydel’s Bakery is known for its high-quality baked goods, baking everything one day ahead to make sure it’s as fresh as possible. Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees was quoted saying, “Haydel’s is probably where I get king cake the most.”

Experience

Our experience at Haydel’s was positive. The location wasn’t busy at all and the employee behind the counter was awesome. While we were there a few locals stopped by to grab some of their favorite treats. The bakery was very clean and had a wide selection of goodies to choose from.

Review

Appearance

Haydel’s king cake is a large circular cake, coated with icing and decorated with the colors of Mardi Gras. The cake is resembles a massive glaze doughnut but with much more potential.

Touch

To the touch, the king cake carries a bit of weight because of its size. It’s slightly firm but doughy and boasts a ton of gooey stickiness.

Smell

The king cake smells of a freshly baked pastry. The sweetness from all the icing rips through and announces its presence … daring you to see what it tastes like.

Taste

The first bite is sweet, but much doughier than I expected. It’s very good in that it reminded by of a thicker glazed doughnut. The texture was soft but springy and the sweetness from the icing really injected some life into the dough. Overall it was good and very enjoyable. Only downside was that I didn’t get that damn baby!!!

Update: I did end up being the person who found the baby on our final king cake before we caught our flight home 🙂

Side note: I’ll attempt to make a king cake and post it on a later date for those who want to make their own for their cheat day.