Most people who aren’t from around here don’t realize how much Mardi Gras matters in my hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

They think of New Orleans first – and they should. Mobile makes a strong claim as the birthplace of Mardi Gras in America. The Mississippi Gulf Coast lives Carnival season daily. What they often miss is that Hattiesburg has long carried a deep connection to Mardi Gras.

For me, that connection runs straight through family.

The Mystic Krewe of Zeus, the oldest krewe in Hattiesburg, has been part of my life for generations. My grandfather helped found it. A cousin served as the first queen. My father was a member. Membership passed to me, and later to my son. My daughter served as queen, and her old man served as king.

For all that, king cakes weren’t a big part of growing up. They existed, sure, but they weren’t central. A few local bakeries began making them in the 1980s, and they were fine, but king cakes hadn’t yet become the cultural obsession they are today.

That changed after Crescent City Grill opened in the late ’80s. Running a New Orleans–inspired restaurant naturally pulls you into that city’s vibe. In the mid-1990s, we started serving king cake bread pudding during Carnival season. It was an immediate hit. Back then, there was no bakery, no plan to open one, and zero knowledge of how to run one.

A French pastry chef later moved to Hattiesburg and opened a small bakery across from Crescent City Grill. His king cakes were excellent, but he eventually closed after a battle with cancer. Hattiesburg lost something special.

Based on no business logic and zero baking experience, I opened a French-inspired bakery because it felt like the town needed one. The first king cakes were made in The Midtowner kitchen while Loblolly was still under construction. That crew could turn out about 35 a day. Lines stretched down the sidewalk. Cakes sold out in minutes. That told us everything we needed to know.

The following year, I drove to New Orleans with the sole purpose of buying as many king cakes as I could fit in my truck to see if the hype was real. I stopped at bakeries all over the city and came home with about 35. Dong Phuong had long been treated as the standard. The honest goal was to prove it was overrated. It wasn’t. Not by a long shot. Dong Phuong became our benchmark.

The first Mardi Gras season with the bakery open, the team managed 60 to 70 cakes on a few days. We sold out every day. I was grateful – but not proud yet. The team was still learning. So was I.

Here’s the truth: I entered the bakery business knowing next to nothing. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a baker. Everything on my end has been learned the hard way. Over time, a strong team came together. The product improved. Last year, we reached volumes around 250 king cakes a day, sometimes pushing 300. Most days sold out. They were good. Actually, I believed them exceptional.

King cakes are subjective. Everyone has an opinion. I have several. Too many suffer from bad bread: dry, dense, lifeless, tasteless. A king cake should be soft and tender – moist but not wet. If the bread isn’t right, nothing else matters.

The icing is another problem. Many bakeries drown their cakes in thick, overly sweet frosting that hardens as it sits. We use a light frosting – just sweet enough to do the job and get out of the way. Many bakeries also dump piles of granulated sugar on top. Sweet for the sake of sweet is never a good thing.

But the biggest problem is filling. Most fruit-filled king cakes rely on canned jelly or doughnut filling. We tried that early on. It never felt honest. The blueberry king cake at Loblolly uses local blueberries picked at peak season, frozen and held specifically for us. Blueberries, cream cheese, cinnamon, and restraint. That’s it. It makes a difference.

Last year we held pop-ups across the region. Demand outran capacity. Lines formed. Sales had to be limited. Cakes still ran out.
This season, the bakery is better prepared. I bought an additional oven specifically for baking perfect king cakes. Five hundred cakes a day is our realistic goal, with 600 during peak. Retail partners across Mississippi and Louisiana now carry Loblolly king cakes, and nationwide overnight shipping is in place.

Looking back over a 44-year career, two moments from last year stand out. The New York Times named Loblolly Bakery one of the Top 22 Bakeries in the U.S. That recognition belongs entirely to the people inside that building.

The second happened while visiting our son in Chicago. A text arrived saying the King Cake Mafia had reviewed our king cakes. Louisiana critics aren’t known for generosity when it comes to Mississippi bakeries dabbling in sacred Louisiana staples. I was nervous opening TikTok.

The score was high. Josh gave it a 10 and Patrick gave it a 9.7. Huge! Later, in their end-of-season review, one named Loblolly’s king cake his favorite of the year. The other placed us just behind Dong Phuong.

That was the moment it felt like the work had landed where it was supposed to.

None of this happens alone. Credit belongs to the leadership team, bakers, decorators, and everyone who shows up before dawn and stays after dark. Pride lives there – not in the attention, but in the effort.

Mardi Gras has always been about continuity – family, community, and the quiet commitment to show up year after year and do it a little better. King cakes just happen to be part of that story now.

Onward, and laissez les bons temps rouler!

KING CAKE BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar, divided
4 egg yolks
8 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 (8–10-inch) round cream cheese–filled king cake

Directions:
■ Place milk, cream, and half the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk remaining sugar, egg yolks, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a bowl until light yellow. Slowly add hot milk to eggs, whisking constantly.
■ Cut king cake into 2-inch slices.
■ Pour half the custard into a 2-quart round baking dish (9-inch diameter). Submerge king cake slices, then pour remaining custard over the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
■ Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove covering, press down cake so custard covers surface. Cover with parchment paper and foil. Place dish in a roasting pan with 2 inches of hot water. Bake 40 minutes. Remove foil and parchment; bake 10 more minutes. Let rest 1 hour before serving.

BRANDY CRÈME ANGLAISE

Ingredients:
1 cup cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup brandy
3/4 cup sugar, divided
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
■ Bring cream, half-and-half, brandy, half the sugar, and vanilla to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk yolks and remaining sugar until pale yellow. Slowly add cream mixture to yolks, stirring constantly. Return to saucepan over low-medium heat; cook until thick enough to coat a spoon.
■ Remove from heat and cool in an ice bath. Can be made 2–3 days in advance.

Robert St. John is a restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, and world-class eater from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has spent four decades in the restaurant industry, written 13 books, and written a syndicated newspaper column for more than 24 years. Read more about Robert at robertstjohn.com.

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