by Brad Rhines

When is a king cake not a cake?  When it’s a pie, of course. Nathan Winner, better known as the NOLA Pie Guy, will be baking specialty mini-pies inspired by the official food of Carnival, and selling them throughout the Carnival season at his pop-up pie stand just across Freret Street from Dat Dog. While the makers of king cake vodka turned to the pastries from Haydel’s Bakery for inspiration, Winner’s pies recall the puff-pastry-and-almond-cream French king cakes, or galettes des rois, found at bakeries like La Boulangerie.

“What I’m doing,” Winner told NoDef, “is a homemade frangipane,  which is an almond cream, and I’m just using my traditional sweet pie crust, so you’ve got like an almond custard filling.  Then I’ve got purple, green, and gold icing that I drizzle over the top.  Stick a little toasted almond in the middle, and that’s my king cake pie.”

The Pie Guy brought a few pies out to his stand last week just to test the waters, and the customers agreed that Winner’s take on the cake was, well, a winner.

“It got rave reviews,” he said, “so it looks like I’m going to stick with it throughout the season.”

Winner also added that he plans to do a Zulu inspired pie later during Carnival season, probably with a chocolate and coconut filling.

Locals can get pies from the Pie Guy every Saturday and Sunday from 12:00-6:00 p.m. at the Freret Street stand, and Winner told NoDef that, through Mardi Gras Day, he plans to donate 10% of the proceeds from his pop-up to the New Orleans Edible School Yard at Samuel J. Green Charter School near the intersection of Valence and Freret Street.  The garden at Valence Street has “rows and rows of fresh produce and they have a full-scale production kitchen inside,” said Winner.  “They teach kids what real food is.” Giving back is an essential part of Winner’s NOLA Pie Guy venture as he proved last month, with his charity pie-eating contest.

For those who can’t make it to Freret Street, Winner’s pies are now also available throughout the week at Magnolia Bay Toffee Company at 3931 Magazine Street.