CUT OFF, La. — How far would you go for a good king cake?
In Cut Off, an hour plus outside of New Orleans, you'll find Cajun Pecan House.
“Cajun Pecan House opened in 1985. King cakes did not start until 1987," employee Louise Galliano said.
Ever since then, the recipe has remained the same, thanks to a woman named Sandra.
Sandra started taking meticulous notes in 1988.
She passed away in 2020, but she left behind the notebooks. Some staff members call it the 'Bible'.
The notebooks help the nine-woman staff know how many ingredients to order and how many king cakes to make depending on how long that Carnival season is.
There are a few things that make Cajun Pecan House king cakes different than others.
First, they're made from scratch, and they come in sizes. They offer small, medium and large.
Almost everything about them is customizable.
“Most popular is cinnamon pecan, which is a traditional, or strawberry cream cheese," Meagan Danos said.
Unlike most king cakes, cinnamon is optional, and fillings are baked in, not injected after.
“It keeps it moist," Galliano said.
“Cooked fruit is better," Danos said.
They also offer a king cake of the week by the slice. This week it's Oreo and next week they plan to have a wedding cake.
Once the king cake is baked, it's boxed and ready to be iced, which is also optional.
Carnival is one of the busiest times of year for the bayou bakery.
“The total for the year is 6,000, but we do about 1,000 shipping," Danos said.
“We do ship. Mostly to Texas, Mississippi. And then of course, we’ve gone all the way to Hawaii before," Jennifer Schexnaydre said, “We compete with the best.”
You can order king cakes online, at the Cajun Pecan House website.