If I had a dollar every time someone asked me where they should order a king cake from in New Orleans…well you know what they say.

But really, when out-of-town friends ask me where they should order a king cake from, I always give a short list of the usual suspects: Gambino’s, Randazzo’s, Sucre and Haydel’s. I do this because–who am I to declare a winner?



But after a recent nudge from my friend (thanks Jess!) who couldn’t find my recommendation on this here website, I realized that I need to just come clean and declare my favorite. For the record though, I highly recommend trying as many king cakes you can this season to declare your own winner!

If you’re from Louisiana, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you already have a favorite king cake. If you haven’t met your soul-king cake yet or maybe you have a crazy little hunch that something better might be out there…that maybe–just maybe–there are other cakes in the sea, then I invite you to try my personal favorite king cake.

Now I’m no expert — and while I have attended the King Cake Festival, I must admit that my sugar high caused me to forget who my faves were. On top of that, I wasn’t about to waste my time standing in line for 30 minutes at the “popular” booths.

So there you have it: I have not tasted every single king cake out there. Although, I continue to aspire to it, and if I find one that trumps my current fave then I promise to let you know.

When it comes to flavors, hands down every single time I will choose cream cheese filling. I think it adds some much-needed moistness to average dry plain king cake flavor. Plus cream + cheese make everything better.

Speaking of dryness, it’s my least favorite attribute of king cake. Seriously, why are so many king cakes dry? Dry king cake is the absolute worst.

Moistness is paramount in my book. Moist. Moisture. Moistness. Moist. (Isn’t it Lilly on How I Met Your Mother who can’t stand the word moist?) Anyway I digress.

(Ok so enough teasing already, am I right?!)

Haydel’s Bakery makes my favorite king cake…with cream cheese.




It’s consistently super moist and the flavor is perfect. And pretty sprinkles. Duh.

I also like the way the cream cheese is placed on top of the king cake, kind of like a little cream cheese river. It also keeps it from getting messy. A little bonus is they always include a king cake history scroll and usually a figurine of the year’s celebrated Mardi Gras icon/animal.

So after you finish their king cake, you should be able to start both a king cake baby and figurine collection. I like to line them up along my sink window like trophies.

I did a quick search on their website and you can order from anywhere in the US for $50 (includes king cake and shipping.) Totally worth it IMO! You can also order internationally, but I think you have to call or email them to ask for rates. If you don’t have to pay for shipping, their king cakes usually run around $20-$25.

Here’s the link to order my favorite cream cheese king cake:

 https://www.haydelbakery.com/Piece-of-Cake-Traditional-Only-

 

If you live in the New Orleans area, Haydel’s now has 2 pop-up locations in addition to their Jefferson home…and rumor has it there’s even a road pop-up trailer!

The Uptown pop-up is on the corner of Magazine St. and Constantinople St. in the SnoWizard SnoBall Shoppe and the Lakeside pop-up is on the corner of Harrison and West End, inside Chris’ Speciality Meats.

And if you’re in the New Orleans area, and you just CAN’T EVEN leave your house but you HAVE TO HAVE king cake STAT (we’ve all been there) then just call up UberEATS. They’ve partnered with bakeries all over town to deliver king cake straight to your doorstep.

Did you get that? King Cake. On Demand. All Mardi Gras season long.

Use the promo code eats-shownola to get $10 off your first UberEATS order! You’re welcome.

Ok, so let’s hear it…do you agree? Disagree? What is your favorite King Cake style? Also, if you live outside of New Orleans, please tell me where you get your favorite king cake from. I’m on a pursuit to find the best King Cake spots across Louisiana!

Happy Mardi Gras! No go stuff your faces with cinnamon goodness.


Danielle Granger Nava