Krewe of Aquarius is rescheduled
February 1, 2018
Gators play games at the Tableau
February 7, 2018
On January 28th, the best bakeries from New Orleans and its surrounding areas competed against one another in hope to obtain a variety of awards at the 5th Annual Ochsner’s King Cake Festival. Awards up for grabs included Best Presentation (Balestra’s), Best Traditional (Sierra’s Sugar Love Cakes Bakery), Most Unique (Pain Frais), etc. That day, Festival attendees carried two doubloons around Champion’s Square and dropped them in the canisters of their favorite king cake vendors for the People’s Choice Award. This year that honor went to Houma’s own Mr. Ronnie’s Famous Hot Donuts.
“We were beyond shocked and floored when we won People’s Choice,” says Wendy Picou, General Manager of Mr. Ronnie’s and daughter of founders, Ronnie and Linda Picou.
Being no stranger to the King Cake Festival, Mr. Ronnie’s has been invited to participate every year since it started, winning Best Filled its first year. Knowing how to be prepared for this huge event, Ronnie’s staff brought over 4,000 donut holes to provide as their tasters. At their booth, they also offered choices of their different fillings that included pecan, bavarian, and their signatures white and chocolate “Twinkles”, to dip the donuts in. When the donut holes were finished, they started cutting up the hundred dozen donuts they brought as well to serve.
“Everything we brought, went,” Wendy says, “The king cake sugar was flying that day.”
Owning a Tastee Donut franchise in 1976 before they established Mr. Ronnie’s in 1994, Ronnie and Linda Picou were the first to bring king cakes to the Houma area. In 1977, the first year they started selling king cakes, they only sold 77 of them and had to put together a history of king cakes so people knew what they were. It is no surprise that the Picou family received the People’s Choice Award after being dedicated to baking not only their famous donuts, but also king cakes for over 40 years.
“My dad has taught us to always make the best that you can make for your customers,” Wendy says, “Do the best that you can do. It paid off.” •
