I know this is heresy....serious heresy, but I don't think king cakes are all that as pastry and they're over priced. But anyway, which bakeries make the best?? Duong Phong (in New Orleans east) is my favorite...and theirs is $15.
For the price, I think king cakes are too expensive. And for $1.50 I can buy 3 very fresh donuts that are warm and sublime from the same bakeries. King cakes are made a day or 2 ahead of time and are way too sweet. A day old donut is horrible. They don't even sell them. The price of king cakes is high because their popularity and demand is married to the popularity and anticipation of the magic of carnival. Give me a porfiterole or bread pudding any day over a slice of king cake.
You are right about most of them being overprotective for what they are. Especially the ones baked in grocery stores. Randazzo's has the rep in NOLA but I haven't had one of theirs in a long time. In Baton Rouge Gambino's makes a good one snd Calandro's market makes about 25 different varieties, some of them pretty exotic. And no, I haven't tried them all.
I grew up on McKenzie's king cakes in the days before people started making KC's with filling. So to me, a real king cake is basically an elaborate cinnamon roll with colored sugar on top. Some bakeries skip the icing and just do the colored sugar. They should have their ovens confiscated.
I like cinnamon rolls but if I'm going to pay for a king cake I want filling. I like the strawberries best and then pineapple.
I used to stop at Dufrene's bakery in Golden Meadow on the way back from Grande Isle. They had great French bread for making speckled trout poboys. One Mardi Gras season I got a king cake there and it was great.. @Nutriaitch is Dufrene's still there?
I've learned to like some filled KC's; I'm just saying what it is traditionally to my way of thinking. And when its my turn to buy the KC, "traditional" is what you get.
