You might chalk it up to the sugar buzz talking, but I believe king cake brings optimism. It barrels through indecision in favor of indulgence. It can brighten your day, even if it’s the last thing you eat at night.
It’s not just a sweet, it’s a cultural statement. Whether you get the baby or not, you get something out of it beyond calories (though, of course, you get those too).
And while it seems ubitquitous around New Orleans during Carnival time, king cake is not here forever. Get it while you can.
This year brought a longer than usual Carnival season, but now we are already more than half way through it. That brings a new urgency to the perennial question of which king cakes you’ve tried and which ones are next on your list.
It’s New Orleans. Yes, these questions do feel weighty. Plus, the Saints are done for the year, so we need something on which to fixate our obsessions. Why not king cake?
Perhaps the biggest question in play is whether to go traditional or creative. From a simple ring of sugary brioche, this holiday tradition has spawned a cottage industry of king cake creations.
The king cake concept has become fodder for practically anything edible, and many things that aren’t. This has made some people more than a tad defensive about the future of the classic king cake.
And yet for all the manipulations to the king cake out there now, the best-sellers from the big king cake producers — the local grocery brands, the household name bakeries — are still the classics. The alternative twists remain just that.
Maybe I’ve already had too much king cake this season, but I’m feeling optimistic again. I think the tradition is in good hands, especially those sticky with sugar done in purple, green and gold.
