The King Cake Chronicles: NKOTB

In last week's episode of the King Cake Chronicles, we tasted our way through the first family of king cakes, the Randazzos. This week we head to the opposite end of the spectrum, taking a looksee at a few of the king cake bakers who have debuted this year.

Cochon Butcher

Pastry Chef Rhonda Rhuckman has taken the traditional king cake to new levels with her miniature editions available for pickup at Cochon Butcher. The soft brioche dough has a variety of fillings, including praline, strawberries and cream, and a chocolatey combination of sour cream, devil's food crumbs, and chocolate chips. Bonus points for the porcine replacement of the traditional baby.

Regicide

Fans of Pizza Delicious have already tasted the work of Christine, dough stretcher extraordinaire, but this Mardi Gras season she has taken her talents solo with her own king cake business, known as Regicide. The first time I ordered one of Christine's king cakes, I went against her recommendation and requested that she omit her standard sweet cream cheese filling. The result was an excellent brioche dough that came out too dry. Mea culpa.

Luckily, I was not deterred by my own idiocy, and so I sampled a slice of the "O How Nice Apple & Spice" version a week later at PD. The difference was remarkable. The thin layer of cream cheese swirled throughout the dough helps keep the cake moist and light without overpowering the flavor of the dough, and the apple filling was minimal but perfectly proportioned.

Lessons for the day: Trust the baker, and never mess with perfection.

Maple Street Patisserie

In Ziggy Cichowski's native Poland, his countrymen celebrate Paczki Day as the feast before the Lenten fast begins. But Ziggy's unfamiliarity with Mardi Gras has proved not be a rampart for creating a king cake which reminds of a much improved version of a much exalted classic. The top of the cake is a braid with peaks and valleys covered in a snowstorm of granulated purple, green, and gold sugar and a decorative drizzle of white icing. The yeasty, almost donut-like flavor reminds me of the old school McKenzie's king cake, but 100x better.

The King Cake Chronicles: The Randazzos

Nothing says "I love you" like a family dynasty begotten from sugar-covered and cinnamon-flavored braided dough.

In New Orleans the name "Randazzo" is synonymous with king cake. It all started out in Da Parish (as all good things do) in 1965 when brothers Lawrence, Tony, and Manuel Randazzo opened Randazzo's HiLan Bakery in Chalmette. But did you know that there is not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 (that I know of) present day king cake bakeries with roots grounded in the Randazzo family tree?

Truthfully, to me "Randazzo's" has always delineated Manny Randazzo's, whose Fat City storefront is marked by long lines during the carnival season. But in the interest of true journalism, I decided to sample each of the Randazzo family king cakes to determine if one deserves the title of king among king cakes.

First, a few general notes. All of the Randazzo king cakes are similar both in flavor and in appearance, so I decided to include only one representative photo (from Manny's). The dough is akin to a large, braided cinnamon roll. I happen to be a fan of the thick, sugary white icing which is a trademark of the Randazzo family, but I am respectful of those who are not. Lastly, call me a purist but I prefer my king cakes plain. Gloppy, overpowering cream cheese filling is an instant turnoff. (Though some filled king cakes are welcome in my book, and we'll discuss those on another day).

So without further ado, here are the contestants:

• Manny Randazzo's - Founded in 1992, Manny Jr. is probably the most well known (and thus most popular) of the Randazzo bakeries. Available only by pickup at the N. Hullen Street location or by mail order, this soft king cake can be easily spotted by it's trademark purple, green, and gold colored sprinkles.

• Nonna Randazzo's - Hailing from Covington by way of Katrina evacuation, Nonna's is run by Joel Randazzo Forjet (daughter of Lawrence Randazzo) and her husband Felix Forjet, himself a veteran of the HiLan Bakery. Available for pickup in the store or at Canseco's Supermarket, Nonna's king cake has a darker crust and firmer interior than Manny's, though it's by no means dry. Curiously enough though, instead of elongated Mardi Gras sprinkles, Nonna's uses red and blue colored non-pareils.

• Randazzo's Camellia City Bakery - Honestly, I don't know if I could tell the difference between Camellia City and Manny's in a blind taste test. The Camellia City king cake in my office kitchen last week looked and tasted exactly like Manny's. That's to say it was delicious. Available for pick-up in store or various other locations.

• King Cakes by Dianne - Interesting enough, "Dianne R" chooses not to trade on the family name. Her king cake is probably the most distinctive among the group, with granulated sugar adding a layer of color on top of the white icing. you can pick-up one of Diane's king cakes at several spots around town.

And the royalty among the Randazzo king cakes? It's still Manny's for me, but who in the hell cares what I think? Let us know your opinion in the comments and in today's poll.

A Cake Fit For Kings

Since the start of the new year, I have probably eaten 47 slices of king cake. I know, I know - high cholesterol, diabetes, cardiac arrest, yada yada yada - but I can't help myself. At least 3 times per week, sometimes twice in a single day, someone shows up at the office with a king cake. That's on top of the king cakes which are omnipresent at every birthday, wedding shower, funeral, and bris that I get invited to. How can a guy say no to a piece of king cake in celebration of circumcision?

But even though I have eaten an alarming number of slices of king cake, I honestly have not sampled the spectrum of species from that many different bakeries. Perhaps king cakes are similar to snowballs in that location plays a major role? Case in point, the above classic king cake from McKenzie's, now sold by Tastee Donuts, covered in purple, green, and gold granulated sugar While this is the king cake of my youth and always my first one of the season, it just never tastes as good as I remember.

At the opposite end from the McKenzie's classic, we have this shimmering specimen from Sucre, who started baking king cakes for the first time this year. The glaze on this cake is so stunning that you might be hesitant with your knife, but then you would be missing what's inside...

... and that would be an extremely light pastry filled with a thin layer of whipped cream cheese. I usually despise filled king cakes (too gloppy), but the minimal smear of cream cheese in this one is in perfect balance with the paper thin layers of pastry. This is probably the best king cake that I have eaten so far this year.

I'm still a sucker for Manny Randazzo's, which is better than Randazzo's Camellia City in my opinion. Haydel's makes a good king cake, but the combination of icing and granulated sugar throws me off; I prefer one or the other but not both. Antoine's is always welcome as an afternoon snack.

I still have quite a few king cakes on my list to try: Hi-Do Bakery on the wild wild Westbank, the not-so-sweet goat cheese and apple king cake from New Orleans Cake Cafe, the true classic galette des rois from La Boulangerie. So many cakes, so few inches to spare in the waistband of my suit pants. A little help, dear readers, if you wouldn't mind.