Charlotte’s Latin bakeries are preparing for Epiphany. Where to get your king cake.
Bakeries smell the same in any language: Bready, yeasty, spicy, sugary. Oooh, and buttery. The heady smell of baked flour and butter is enough to draw me through any door.
Once you get inside, though, they all have little differences. I’ve had a love affair with Charlotte’s Latino bakeries for more than 25 years, since the first panaderia I’d ever seen opened near my neighborhood off Archdale Drive. I got lucky: One of my co-workers was a photojournalist who had been born and raised in Mexico City.
He was happy to show me the ropes: How you go in and pick up a tray and tongs to serve yourself from the cabinets. The French influence you’ll notice on so many of the shapes and styles. The staple sweet rolls, conchas, with their swirly sugar tops that look like shells. The way Mexican baked goods are much less sweet than American and even French pastries because they’re meant to be eaten with sweet, hot beverages.
There usually aren’t any prices on the cases of breads and cookies, but most things are very inexpensive. Most individual items cost less than $2, and you can usually fill a bag for less than $10. Certain holidays — particularly for All Souls’ Day, Dia de los Muertos, in early November, or right after Christmas — are the best times to go.
Like most Catholic-influenced places, people from Latin America don’t treat Christmas as a one-day-and-done event. Christmas is a season that lasts all the way to Jan. 6, 12 days after Christmas, when three wise men arrived to proclaim that Jesus wasn’t just another baby. Whether it’s called Three Kings Day or Epiphany, that’s the big celebration, and it calls for big baked goods.
If you’re from Mexico, Jan. 6 is always celebrated with a Rosca de Reyes, or King’s Wreath, a big circle of lightly sweet bread, topped with candied fruits and white strips of quince paste called “ate.”
Like all king cakes, there’s a plastic baby inside somewhere. If you get the baby, you’re expected to host a tamale party on Feb. 2, for La Candelaria, or Candlemas. That’s one reason why so many bakeries continue to sell tamales, a Christmas tradition, long after New Year’s.
When I visited a half-dozen bakeries a few days before Christmas, there weren’t many Roscas to be seen yet. People usually start ordering them after Christmas, around Dec. 28, for pickup on Jan. 5 or 6. I did find one popular bakery that has wide slices of them on hand already, though. (Details on that below.)
Even if you don’t have an Epiphany tradition, you owe it to yourself to stop by one of these bakeries. The smell alone will keep you in the holiday spirit for weeks. If you ask, most have tamales hot and ready for a quick lunch before you dig into the cookies.
El Quetzal
Guatemalan-owned, it’s small but packed, with cases loaded with breads, slices of tarts, and tall, fluffy squares of milhojas, similar to a napoleon with layers of puff pastry and cream.
It also has terrific tamales with soft, almost pudding-like masa. The team started taking orders Dec. 28 for Rosca de Reyes in two sizes, for $25 and $35. Panaderia El Quetzal, 925 Eastway Drive., 704-536-9408; www.panaderiaelquetzalnc.com for the full menu.
La Espiga
It’s a small but friendly bakery in a little strip mall, with cases of the usual cookies, palmiers, sweet empanadas and slices of bread pudding. There’s also a small case of frozen treats.
Orders for Rosca de Reyes cakes started Jan. 1. The cakes are $35, and you need to pay half in advance as a deposit. Panaderia La Espiga, 6445 Albemarle Road, 704-519-8076.
Manolo’s Latin Bakery
It was known for years as Las Delicias, but after a split in the family, it’s now owned by Manolo Betancur. It’s Charlotte’s fanciest Latino-style bakery, with breads, cookies and elaborately frosted cakes all year. (Check out the churros cake, a layer cake surrounded with caramel-filled churros, all bound with a ribbon. It makes a big impression at any party.)
The pastry case is piled with palmiers (oreja), conchas, pan de queso (a tender bread that’s a little like pound cake) and empanadas. That’s where you can find generous slices of Rosca de Reyes ready to go. Whole ones come in small, medium and large, and you could place an order there until Jan. 3. Prices for this year hadn’t yet been set, so you’ll have to check when you call to see if any are still available. (Great selfie tip: Check out the Christmas mural, a big tree decorated with miniature pastries.) Manolo’s Latin Bakery, 4405 Central Ave., 704-568-2120, email hola@manolosbakery.com.
Odalys Panaderia y Pasteleria
This bakery chain has nine locations, including Independence Boulevard and South Boulevard, as well as stores in Concord and Gastonia. Several Mexican friends tell me it’s their favorite place to get Rosca de Reyes. The cakes come in two sizes, $20 (medium) and $30 (large).
Two important things to know: It’s pronounced “oh-DAHL-lees,” and it’s cash only. Panaderia Odalys, 4404 E. Independence Blvd., 6407 South Blvd., and 6301 N. Tryon St. in Charlotte; 704-535-8100 for the Independence Boulevard location.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 9:00 AM.
