Earlier this week, Piety and Desire Chocolate announced on Instagram that they would be selling pieces of their signature king cake, “Da Krown,” by the slice this weekend. This was exciting for a number of reasons.

First, I love king cake by the slice! I think it is a really great (and economical) way to try the maximum amount of different cakes in a short carnival season. Some of these really nice specialty cakes can get quite expensive, and while I’m more than happy to hand over my money to a local bakery for an artisan creation, I think it’s awesome that these delicacies can be a bit more accessible if you do your research!

Second, I love Piety and Desire Chocolate SO MUCH. They are a local chocolate shop that opened in 2017. (Wow, what a year 2017 was for food in this city!) They pride themselves on making bean-to-bar chocolate starting from cacao and ending in the most delightful chocolate bars and bon bons that you’ve ever tried. The bon bons are some of my favorite gifts to give (and receive!) because they are tiny works of art that are incredibly indulgent and delicious.

Third, Piety and Desire recently opened a second location in my neighborhood (they call it their “Cafe au Chocolat”) where they sell drinking chocolate, coffee, affogato (!), bon bons, and, somewhat inexplicably, a very large solid chocolate turkey that has never been purchased and has now been named “Frank.” (I think they told me it was 8lbs of solid chocolate—why don’t you go yourself and find out for sure?) The Cafe is located on Magazine Street (between St. Andrew and Josephine), which happens to be located just a couple of doors down from a certain burrito shop that I’ve been known to frequent. We bought two slices, along with a small selection of bon bons (including a king cake bon bon which was DELIGHTFUL).

And now to discuss the king cake itself! I’ll provide the official description of the cake from Piety and Desire to start. It’s a house-made brioche dough; earl grey and pink peppercorn dark chocolate ganache piped inside AND drizzle on top; local, organic satsuma and orange blossom glaze; sprinkles of cocoa nib and pink peppercorn; and “crowned with a king cake bon bon beads and candied kumquats (also local, organic).”

Yes, this is one of those super over-the-top, highly untraditional, and truly excessive king cakes that New Orleanians are either obsessed with or find completely blasphemous. Obviously, I’m team #givemefillings, and I am obsessed with this.

We did end up bringing the king cake slices to eat on the comfort of my couch, and I’m glad we did because they did need a quick five (not seven, not three) seconds in the microwave. This is almost always necessary when king cake is sold by the slice and sliced ahead of time, and it is not a knock on the freshness of the cake.

This cake. Was. Awesome. Other than the chocolate ganache, which is obviously the highlight of this cake, my FAVORITE thing about it was the citrus glaze. I love a chocolate and orange pairing and it works so well here. And if you’re intimidated by the peppercorn flavor, I didn’t find it particularly detectable here so it absolutely should not deter you from trying it. I also really enjoyed the texture of the cake itself. Because it’s brioche, it’s basically the best version of bread imaginable and it wasn’t overly sweet. And I can’t end this review without singing the praises of the chocolate, which again, is the star of the show. If you are a chocolate snob/dark chocolate lover/just like really fancy food, this is the cake for you. 4.5 stars.