Yesterday I had a REALLY busy work day. I was holed up in my office with a sign on the door that said “please bring me king cake (silently),” which included a photo of the fantastically terrifying seasonal mascot for the New Orleans Pelicans, King Cake Baby. Sometimes, when you put things out into the universe, the universe delivers. And delivers. And delivers. And then continues to deliver. Yes, friends, yesterday this little endeavor really came to a head when FIVE different people brought me five different king cakes. I have eaten three and have two left to tackle. They will all be reviewed. I once again remind you that I am a woman of my word.

While on a Zoom call, I got a text message from my colleague notifying me that she had brought a king cake to work and had cut me a slice, wrapped it in foil, and left it outside my office. She had also already photographed both the whole cake prior to cutting and an individual slice. I was REALLY busy so I appreciated (1) how considerate this was and (2) the dedication to the cause. At my first opportunity, I ran out, examined it for about .4 seconds, and gobbled it down. I really did mean to just take two bites with the intention of saving the rest to come back to and write the review later, but I couldn’t. It was that delicious. This cake is SPECIAL, y’all. I present to you, the La Vie En Rose Cafe “traditional” king cake.

Now, I had never even heard of this baker and this cake wasn’t at all on my radar. It was being sold at a “modern bodega” called Rabbits Foot, which is adjacent to my neighborhood. I’ve only been in Rabbits Foot once, but they sell super upscale pantry staples, nice bottles of wine, lunch items from the counter, etc. I plan to return soon. After some googling, I learned that La Vie En Rose Cafe had a store front that was located near Rabbits Foot that has now closed. (Does anyone know why? Their Instagram appears to be active but from what I am able to gather, they are only doing king cakes right now.)
I also learned that La Vie En Rose is a Black-owned business and is also woman-owned. WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

La Vie En Rose does a variety of different cakes (including the elusive savory king cake!) but my colleague picked up a “Traditional” which actually wasn’t all that traditional… it’s described as their take on a “traditional cream cheese king cake.”

First, I just want to say that this cake is breathtakingly beautiful. It is pretty but in a whimsical way. The purple, green, and gold colors are there, but they are in pastels. They are tiny little edible crown charms on the gold portions. The sprinkles are different shapes and sizes. Just looking at this cake brings me joy. But that feeling was eclipsed by the joy I felt upon eating it.

As I mentioned earlier, I inhaled the first piece my colleague brought me and was a bit disappointed in myself for not taking down a single note for this review… but hunger and stress will do that to you. I was honestly just planning on buying myself a second cake (lol) but luckily I located the rest of the cake in the smaller work kitchen about an hour later and was able to eat a second slice. So here we go.

The dough had a flaky pastry-like consistency that was breathtaking. My colleague said it reminded her of an eclair or a cream puff. It was flaky on the outside of chewy on the inside. It was baked to perfection. It was buttery and lightly sweet but definitely not overly so. It was incredible. And the icing. The icing!!!! THE ICING. It was a cream cheese icing but it had a real savory quality to it. Almost like a salted caramel quality. This was the main reason I needed a second slice because I had to think hard about what made this cream cheese different from other cream cheese icing, which y’all know I love.

This may not seem like a very detailed review, but this cake is elegant simplicity at its best. She is sophisticated!! She is beauty, she is grace. Five stars for this stunner that blindsided me with happiness!