Before we get to the winner of the NOLA Eats Second Annual King Cake Tasting Party, I would like to thank everyone that donated, helped out, promoted, chipped in and attended the party. As I said at the event, we had twelve people in attendance at last year’s party, so I was excited (and a little nervous) about this year’s event. I am so pleased with the turn-out and couldn’t have asked for a better group. If you are curious about our fantastic donors, I will list them all at the end. Now, on to the winner!

As you can see, we had a nice spread to judge. Bakeries that were represented were Haydel’s Bakery, Cake Café & Bakery, Sucré, Nonna Randazzo’s Italian Bakery and Café, Maurice French Pastries and McKenzie’s/Tastee Donuts.

Photo Courtesy flickr.com/photos/scooppictures/

I made up score sheets for guests to select their favorite cake and encouraged note-taking. After counting all the votes, the winner was clear; This crowd’s favorite king cake was the cake from Sucré.

Photo Courtesy shopsucre.com

The most common reason stated for voters choosing Sucré was the cake’s moist texture, which I am sure is in part from the whipped cream cheese filling that was initially undetected by some tasters. The cream cheese is almost absorbed by the bread, rather than being stuffed or filled to capacity. While I usually have a preference for traditional king cakes, I quite enjoyed the subtlety of the filling. It seems like many bakeries go overboard with their fillings and toppings, but Sucré changes one’s perception of what a king cake can and should be.

The first runner-up — again, by quite a few votes — were the king cakes from Cake Café. The traditional and the goat cheese and apple-filled cakes were counted as one selection, since the filled cake was either loved or loathed, depending on the taster’s palate. Most tasters, it seemed, factored in both cakes and made their decision based on their overall opinion.  As for my two cents, the goat cheese and apple is purely a mind-blowing combo, especially inside a cinnamon-y king cake. Again, I prefer a more traditional approach to king cakes, but I would purchase this pastry any time of the year as a dessert. I love the bread’s texture of their king cakes.

I think it is interesting and perhaps important to note that a large percentage of our tasters are not from Louisiana. NOLA Eats, as a social dining group, attracts newly transplanted young professionals who are interested in meeting people and discovering new restaurants. I think that those that grew up here probably have a strong preference for whatever cake their family favored. New residents do not have this association, so their basis for judging is quite different. Voting was anonymous, but I wish I would have had a spot for tasters to tell me if they were new or long-time residents. This is something I might document for next year. Eating king cakes is scientific!

Regardless of the results, I believe it just goes to show that there really is no definitive “best king cake” with so many factors that play into making these pastries. We all have our favorites, and well, that’s just fine…even if you are the one person that voted for McKenzie’s.

There were a couple of bakeries omitted that I would have liked to have represented, but since NOLA Eats is a social group, not a business or non-profit, items that were not generously donated were purchased with my own hard-earned pennies. Costs for events like this have been evenly split in the past, but since our group keeps growing, I am having to be a little more creative and resourceful…but I love a challenge! We did have a “tip cup” for the king cake tasting party, so many thanks to those that chipped in. It certainly helped.

We got a ton of great pictures of our guests, so please check out the slideshow below. If you have any you would like to add, please send them over to me: Leslie (at) nola-eats (dot) com.

Again, this party couldn’t have been so awesome without the generous support of our donors:

Sucré, G.I. Jane’s General Store, Creole Creamery, La Divina Gelateria, MyPunchbowl.com, Republic New Orleans, Capdeville, LePhare, Cake Café, Z’otz Café, Spa Atlantis and, of course, Craig Tracy. Special thanks to Windi Sebren for donating her graphic design talents for the flyer.