Her king cake was famous in Bay St. Louis. Then came Hurricane Katrina.
If Ruth’s Cakery were still in business today, there’s no doubt there would be a line out the door this Mardi Gras season.
Ruth and Jim Thompson’s bakery stood at 130 Court St. in the heart of Old Town Bay St. Louis. Their sweet treats were beloved by many in the Hancock County community.
The shop originally opened as Ruth’s Bakery, but the “B” was changed to “C” in 1995, according to Sun Herald archives. At the time, the bakery was known as the place to go in the mornings for coffee, a sugar rush and gossip.
“No more doughnuts, no more anything except cakes and pies,’‘ Ruth told the Sun Herald back then. “We had paid our dues and worked 18 hours a day for almost 10 years.’‘
Ruth made doberge cakes all year long and her wedding cakes were sought after by hundreds of brides and grooms. And during Mardi Gras season, her king cakes could sell out as soon as they were out of the oven.
After 25 years in business, Ruth’s Cakery was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and is now the home of Ruth’s Roots, a community garden and food pantry run by Elise Epperson Deano.
“The king cakes are still the best I ever had and sometimes I wish I could find some of her recipes hidden in the garden,” Deano said on Facebook, adding that her favorite was pecan praline.
Ruth and Jim’s king cakes won a New Orleans contest
In 2002, the Deep South learned about the delicious king cakes that Ruth and Jim created together.
Ruth, from New Orleans, and Jim, from Jackson, worked together to make their confections. Jim did the baking, fillings and icings and Ruth was the master decorator.
According to the Sun Herald archives, Ruth was encouraged to enter a 2002 contest for the best king cake in and around New Orleans, hosted by a talk show on WWL-TV called “JR in the Morning.”
Twenty-six bakeries entered the contest, and Ruth and Jim’s won.
”Fifteen to 20 minutes after we were announced the winner, our bakery was filled with customers, and people were driving from New Orleans to see our king cakes,” Ruth told the Sun Herald two decades ago. “We didn’t have enough baked as we didn’t realize they would be so popular. For the next two and a half weeks we did not sleep at all. All we did was make king cakes.”
Does anyone have the king cake recipe?
Ruth was an icon to St. Stanislaus and Our Lady Academy students who used to frequent the bakery after school.
Jordyn Stefano Kapidzic was one of them, and she begged Ruth to make king cakes for her wedding in June 2011.
Kapidzic said Ruth was flatterers to be asked but ultimately couldn’t fulfill her request.
“She said it was because their recipe makes a large batch and she couldn’t make smaller cakes,” Kapidzic told the Sun Herald. She did, however, make Kapdizic’s wedding cake and gave her a discount for being “one of her OLA girls.”
Ruth passed away in September 2011, according to Sun Herald archives. She was remembered as a mother, baker and artists who was described as “irreplaceable” in her news obituary.
And still today, Ruth’s memory lives on in the Bay. Some even claim to have at least one of her king cake recipes, though it’s still kept under lock and key.
“If you find her recipe, you’ll have to let me know,” Kapidzic said.
Sun Herald reporter Mary Perez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
