NOBA Blog

Recent News & Events

King Cake Judicata: Bywater Bakery

Posted on: Jan 23, 2023
News: News
Featured Image

Today I present… a three-for-all from Bywater Bakery! Yes, three different king cakes from the same purveyor. What a time to be alive! Here, we have (1) Berry Chantilly filled; (2) Pecan Praline filled; and (3) Traditional.

First, a little back story…

Chaya Conrad opened Bywater Bakery in 2017. Before that, she worked at the uptown New Orleans Whole Foods where she INVENTED (yes) Chantilly Cake. Meaning that if you have ever enjoyed a Chantilly cake, this woman is singularly responsible for that. I wish I were overstating this, but it’s true.

I frequently start my carnival season with Bywater Bakery for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they do a huge King’s Day celebration with live music. Al “Carnival Time” Johnson himself plays in their bakery every year. This is undeniably cool but, alas, is not the best thing about this king cake. The best thing about this king cake is… this king cake. Let’s dig in.

1. Berry Chantilly.

I love this king cake because I love berry chantilly but also because this still feels like a king cake. I’ll admit that, generally speaking, I love ridiculous fillings more than traditional king cake, but a king cake still has to be a king cake. This is that. The cake itself is not super sweet and has a certain “breadiness” (apparently not a word) to it. If the cake were too sweet, this just wouldn’t work. The chantilly cream has a wedding-cake-esque sweet almond flavor. Truth be told, this isn’t my favorite flavor in the world (I would literally never get a wedding cake snowball, ever) but it works so well with the breadiness (now a word) of the cake and the tartness of the berries. It is so good! I love it. INFINITY STARS!

2. Pecan Praline.

As you can see, I opted for a slightly smaller piece of this. One minor gripe I have about this cake is that the filling isn’t SUPER consistent throughout the cake, but that’s a seriously minor gripe. I love praline anything and this praline filling is FOR REAL. It is a really nice consistency, the perfect balance of salt/caramel sweetness, and I would eat it with a spoon. 4.5 stars.

3. Traditional.

See also: priorities. This was still delicious. But give me fillings. 4 stars.