by Megan Wyatt and Sherry P. Shephard
The popularity of king cake seems to have exploded during the last decade.
Bakeries and restaurants aren’t just filling king cakes with everything imaginable. They’ve begun offering king cake flavored products — king cake hamburger, anybody? — to people who seem eager to eat up king cake in any form possible.
“It just never ceases to amaze me just how many new king cake products there are this year,” says Poppy Tooker, producer and host of “Louisiana Eats” on National Public Radio. “It’s a blessed thing if it means that we are growing our king cake culture so much that we just can’t enjoy it enough.”
In addition to its traditional king cake, Lilah’s Bakery in Shreveport offers Mardi Gras bread pudding.
“It’s king-cake flavored bread pudding with praline sauce,” co-owner Lisa Tike said. “It’s really good. We don’t sell a whole lot compared to the number of king cakes we sell but people love it.”
Lila’s also has 25 different flavors of king cake. Tike said they also offer king cake cheesecake and king cake cupcakes.
“Cinnamon and cream cheese is the flavor of king cake that sells the most,” she said. “We have people all the time calling and asking for king cake cheesecake,” she said.
Read more: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/dining/2015/01/26/evolution-king-cake-puff-pastry-hamburger-bun/22377799/