Thousands were stuck in a Los Angeles port just as the King Cake season was heating up
Washington -- OK, there are more critical issues. But for Dottie Haydel, co-owner of Haydel's Bakery, the prospect of thousands of porcelain babies stuck in a Los Angeles port just as the King Cake season was heating up caused concern.
Lots of orders, Haydel explained, but none of the porcelain babies customers expect as part of their Mardi Gras King Cake packages from the Jefferson Highway bakery.
Haydel isn't sure what caused the delay, but it could have been both residual effects from a December labor dispute at the Los Angeles port, and the mislabeling of the shipment from Taiwan. The contents of the package was listed as King Cakes, not porcelain babies.
"Apparently, they thought the package was perishable," Haydel said. "I was getting pretty nervous as we sent out boxes for the first week of our season with a note explaining that we'd send them their porcelain baby when the package was released from Customs."
David Haydel and his bakers finally got their babies. Rusty Costanza / The Times-Picayune
Not knowing what to do, Haydel said she contacted Sen. David Vitter's office in Metairie. Haydel isn't sure what the constituent service staffer for the Republican senator did, but a few days after the office was contacted, the large package stuffed with 1 ½-inch porcelain babies arrived.
"It was quite a relief," Haydel said.
So far, the King Cake Season is a strong one; though sales will be curtailed because it's a relatively short Mardi Gras season - with the early arrival of Easter, Haydel said.
Haydel said she's sold several hundred Super Bowl King Cakes with the icing reflecting the colors of the two Super Bowl teams - the winning Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers.
"Maybe it was an omen, but we sold considerably more Ravens cakes," Haydel said.
Or maybe, it's just that King Cakes are more popular in Baltimore.