When February rolls around, most parts of the country are gearing up for Valentine’s Day but the Gulf Coast is prepping for Mardi Gras. The centerpiece of any Mardi Gras celebration is a King Cake.
It’s easy to find a King Cake in any local grocery store, but if you want a fresh handmade confection, you need to get yourself to BuzzCatz Coffee and Sweets in Orange Beach.
Pastry chef and general manager Kimberly Asbury grew up in Pennsylvania and had never made a King Cake until 2007. It took her some time to developing a recipe, as she tested different types of dough and methods before creating the winning recipe.
“I was making it for a while with the same dough that I use to make my hollas because I like that dough, but it was too crusty and not sweet enough. Next, I tried the yeast dough I make our cinnamon rolls with and it was too soft. I ended up pulling from a few different recipes and creating one that worked for me. It’s a brioche dough so it has a sweetness and a richness, but it stays soft and gets good color,” Asbury said.
Everything BuzzCatz makes is made fresh daily. If you are wanting a larger King Cake, you will need to call and pre-order, but you can pop in and grab individual King Cakes from the display case. The small King Cakes are the perfect size for one or to share with a friend. Strawberry, cream cheese, Bavarian cream and cinnamon sugar are available, but they run out, so either call ahead or get there early in the day.
The larger King Cakes feed eight to 16 people depending on the slice size and come in the standard flavors but for a little extra money you can get one filled with their signature pecan praline filing.
“With the larger cakes, I make three individual strands and braid them together. Each stand is filled so if you wanted strawberry and cream cheese then I can alternate so when you slice into it you are going to see the different flavors. You can custom order any flavor combination,” Asbury said.
BuzzCatz sells the individual King Cakes for $6 for cinnamon sugar and $ 8 for filled. The large King Cake are $15 for cinnamon and $20 for filled and are by pre-order only.
BuzzCatz is located at 25689 Canal Road, Orange Beach. 251-980-2899 or visit www.buzzcatzcoffeeandsweets.com.
