King cakes line a table at Great Harvest Bakery and Café in Tyler. The bakery offers authentic king cakes made from a Louisiana recipe. (Contributed Photo)

From Staff Reports

A Tyler bakery with special ties to Louisiana is helping New Orleans attack victims through its annual tradition of offering king cakes in East Texas.

Great Harvest Bread Co., located at 6621 S Broadway Ave Suite 100 in Tyler, is donating a portion of its king cake sales to nonprofits and charities helping the victims of the recent terror attack in New Orleans. The donations will be made through the rest of January.

The attack on New Year’s Day led to the deaths of 14 people on Bourbon Street. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Texas man responsible for the truck attack in New Orleans, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.

“This king cake season is bittersweet as we stand with our Louisiana neighbors following recent tragic events. … At Great Harvest Tyler, we believe in the power of community,” the bakery said in a Facebook post. “Together, we can make a difference.

The cakes can be ordered at tinyurl.com/greatharvestorder.

Each year, Great Harvest Bakery and Café bakes the popular sweet treat of king cake. Owner Laura Jones knew when she opened the Tyler bakery she wanted to include her Louisiana roots into her baking.

“My parents are from South Louisiana so I grew up traveling to the South during Mardi Gras to visit family. As a little girl, king cakes were the best part of going on vacation during the season,” Jones said in a 2023 interview with the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “It was always my goal as a little girl to find the baby in the cake, even though my Dad had to carry on the tradition of buying the next one.”

Jones said the recipe for her king cakes comes straight from Louisiana which makes her cakes authentic and unique to East Texas.

“… They’re made with an authentic Louisiana king cake recipe that’s been perfected over many years by our good friends,” said Jones, who owns the bakery with her mother Liz.

The name “king cake” comes from the Biblical story of the three kings who bring gifts to Jesus after the birth, according to NewOrleans.com. The cakes are a blend of a coffee cake and a cinnamon roll with fruit or cream cheese filling and are usually iced in the colors of Mardi Gras — yellow, green and purple.

The bakery offers four flavors, including cinnamon twist, cinnamon cream cheese, blueberry cream cheese, and pecan praline with cream cheese.

The cakes are made from scratch daily beginning at 4 a.m. They will be available through March 4.

For more information, call 903-630-3094 or visit www.greatharvesttyler.com.