I’m a MS Coast remote worker. I just tried king cake for the first time — in Kentucky.
It’s hard for me to wake up at 8 a.m. every morning for work. But this day was different. Today, I picked up my first ever king cake — in Kentucky.
My name is Emily Broyles and I’m an audience growth producer for the Sun Herald. Writing newsletters, sending mobile alerts and posting stories on Facebook are just some of the things I do to help out our readers in Biloxi. But, I’m not physically there on the Mississippi Coast. I’m located in Louisville, Kentucky — a city I’m also pretty new to.
As a coastal North Carolina native, Mardi Gras has never really been talked about in my circles. I knew about the plastic babies and big parades, but it wasn’t until the last couple of months working with the Sun Herald until I realized how grand and special Mardi Gras was. And with that comes king cakes, of course.
Every story I was sent about king cakes to promote or edit literally made me drool. I loved the tradition of them and their meaning, the purple yellow and green edible glitter delicately topped on the flakey dough, the different twists South Mississippi bakeries put on their own. After our King Cake Bracket, I knew it was time to get my hands on one.
I live near Nord’s Bakery, a Louisville staple located near the University of Louisville that sells delicious long donuts for like $2. The Germantown bakery is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars on Yelp and has been featured in The New York Times, so it’s definitely a recent favorite of mine. As I checked out one day, there it was: King cakes up for order. This was my Mississippi Coast moment! I put my order in for a small king cake ($18) and two days later, it was ready.
The cake came in a very festive box and even though it’s a size small, it could easily feed six people. Nord’s also sells a large king cake for $32. Topped with Mardi Gras beads and a plastic baby (it was very easy to find), it was time to dive in.
Nord’s king cake is a traditional ring adorned with a sweet vanilla glaze and filled with cinnamon cream cheese. I had trouble slicing it at first, but when I did, I was greeted by that flaky layered dough I’ve read about so often. Even though I know king cake isn’t necessarily cakey, it still surprised me in person.
My favorite part about this king cake - and maybe it’s all of them - was the different sweet flavors in the icing and filling melting together. The dough had the perfect amount of salty and sweet to serve as a neutral base among them. I offered my co-worker a bite (we both work for McClatchy in Louisville) and he was pleasantly surprised.
While the Coast has so many options to pick from for king cake, if you find yourself in Derby City around this time, you have to go to Nord’s to get your Mardi Gras sweet treat fix.
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