Today’s king cake is what I will categorize as a sleeper king cake. Who would think that a store that specializes in Empanadas would sell an incredible king cake? And that, my friends, is why I’m here. I want y’all to know about the best king cakes, but I especially want you to know about the best local king cakes sold by small businesses. Empanola, which is an Empanada shop with locations on Magazine Street in the Irish Channel and on Freret Street, sells a guava and cream cheese king cake that dazzles.

I had this king cake last year and it was one of the most memorable king cakes from 2022. This time, my neighbor brought a giant chunk to me on a Friday afternoon (another day on which I had already eaten five slices of king cake and had three more on deck for the weekend … sigh) so I did have to hold this in fridge until Sunday afternoon when I was physically ready for more king cake. And despite the microwaving, the bread was just a bit on the dry side. (I still ate all of it.)

This is the point in time, reader, that I will remind you that fresh cakes are the best cakes. And great cakes are less great when they are not fresh. I knew this wasn’t fair to this review (but honestly, only because I tried this last year and remembered how much I enjoyed it last time), so I committed to buying myself a slice at some point in the near future so I could accurately reassess the dough. Yes, friends, they sell by the slice, but I think only Thursday through Sunday! They also sell whole cakes. Call ahead! Also, I just checked and they ship out of state.

Just yesterday, as if she read my mind (she’s extremely intuitive), my colleague and close friend walked into my office with a slice of Empanola guava and cream cheese king cake! 

The guava filling is divine. It is piped through the middle of the cake with some additional filling in the center of the cake. It has a paste-like consistency, although in a good way, and isn’t overly sugary, but instead has a perfect fruit sweetness. You may be thinking, “I’ve never tried anything guava flavored and I’ve probably had guava but I can’t at all remember exactly how it tastes… how do I know whether I like guava king cake?” My response is that although guava certainly has a unique flavor, it isn’t a particularly polarizing one. I personally think guava reminds me of a sweeter mango (and you LOVE a Mango Freeze, don’t you??) but it definitely has a different quality to it. Upon further research, I was way off here. Botanically, guavas are berries! So maybe it’s actually closer to a strawberry flavor? The more you know! In any event, it’s delicious. Take a chance on guava!

I really love the way the icing pairs with the filling in this one. It’s such a solid combination. The icing is cream cheese, but it has more of the consistency of a traditional icing (as opposed than whipped cream cheese, a la Dong Phuong). It’s also definitely more of a sweet cream cheese than savory—I didn’t find it savory at all, really. But it has a fantastic subtle tanginess that really compliments the filling in a totally unexpected way. And the very savory dough makes it all work together.

My initial notes on this from when I first tried my fridge slice was that it was “very bready, almost like sandwich bread. It has a beautiful color to the outer crust and a wonderful consistency. It is ever so lightly sweet.”

When we compared tasting notes yesterday, my colleague remarked that the dough is really like a “well-baked loaf of bread.” I remarked that I liked the crust, but she correctly added that, while it has a crust, it’s not at all crusty; it’s soft. Then I realized what it reminded me of… Japanese milk bread! It’s not as airy as Japanese milk bread; in fact, it’s much more dense. But something about the lightness of the bread was reminiscent of a Japanese Sando. It’s really excellent. After much reflection, I’m bumping this one up on the rating scale because everything is right about it, it’s pretty unique, and it’s such a pleasant surprise from an empanada shop. Do not sleep on this king cake! 5 stars.