PATTERSON, LA (AP) — Patterson baker Tyler Roe, 21, of Bonnie's Bouquets and Bakery, prides himself on making king cakes without it.
He prefers and enjoys traditional approaches to baking, especially when it comes to king cake.
"I keep it old-fashioned with the yeast dough" and a combination of other ingredients used to add a special touch to my king cakes, Roe said. "It really doesn't need a filling, but we have fillings that we offer.
"I like to keep it in small, loving batches, that way every batch is quality, to keep the quality high," he said.
King cake orders have been "pretty steady" this season.
He usually prepares the basic king cakes and fills them according to the preference of customers.
The most popular filling requested this year is Bavarian cream. Coming in second is lemon and chocolate filling.
Roe recommends the pecan praline filling as a good one to try.
Roe learned by watching his maternal grandmother, Joyce Dore, create wedding cakes.
"I remember sitting on her lap while she iced a cake or stealing her wedding cake books to look through them," Roe said.
His fascination with wedding cakes stems from the more traditional cakes of the past.
"I like creating something big," Roe said. "I like the old-fashioned cakes that they don't do anymore.
"And all of her books were the old Wilton cake decorating books with piping."
The bakery just received two orders for 50th wedding anniversary events. Roe has been charged with the task of replicating the cakes of each couple's first wedding cake.
This year marks 10 years of professional cake-baking and decorating. Roe started baking cakes as a hobby in junior high school out of his mom's house.
"I got to play around with different things," Roe said. "A lot of my teachers placed orders."
One of his first cakes was a giant apple for the teachers.
"Everyone was impressed," Roe said.
"I would make cakes for the teachers in a breakroom and king cakes for Mardi Gras. They'd all eat on it, then go to class and just say how great it was."
Roe still has pictures of cakes made from his younger baking days.
His first inclination to make a living baking was from his mother's kitchen. He then moved on to Sweet and Simple Bakery, and now Bonnie's.
At the urging of his paternal grandmother, the late Mary Roe, he attended Nicholl's for culinary school. But his studies as a business major and culinary arts minor lasted 1½ years.
The traditional school route turned out not to be the best option for him.
"It was just all the other stuff that you have to take in school, and everything was on computers," Roe said. "I hate computers. I'm really old-fashioned. I hate doing everything on computers."
Since he makes three-dimensional wedding cakes, he has now surrendered to the use of a specialized printer application in order to create his cake designs.
He has found that piece of technology very useful.
His latest challenge is creating a Harley Davidson wedding cake in April, Roe said.
The cake might be featured in a Harley Davidson publication, said Bonnie Riggenbach, owner of Bonnie's Bouquets and Bakery.
Later on in life, Roe's ultimate dream is to own a restaurant. His interest leans more on the side of an old-fashioned supper club with dinner and dancing.
Although both of his grandmothers greatly influenced his passion for baking and culinary arts, he says his greatest inspiration is his wife, Jalynn. They are expecting their first child in August.
– by AP/ Reporter Shea Drake with The Morgan City Daily Review and Franklin Banner
