Early this year, Laura Stafford, owner and operator of Gourmet Goodies in Daphne, received a call from a man in Pensacola who told her he had eaten one of her homemade Crawfish King Cakes the year before.  He was on his way to a party in New Orleans and was wondering if he could swing by and pick one up on his way through town.

Laura, who has difficulty saying no, accommodated the man. “When he picked it up on his way to New Orleans, he mentioned that he was entering my cake in a three-day King Cake contest that included Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.” 

The day before, Thursday at midnight, happened to be the beginning of Epiphany, which also is tied to Mardi Gras and King Cake traditions. By Friday evening, a local television station picked up the story about the King Cake contest and aired it locally, announcing that Laura’s entry made the Top 10.

The news was picked up nationally by wire services. As the contest advanced through the weekend, so did Laura’s Crawfish King Cake. By Sunday, Laura received a call from the gentleman who purchased the cake asking her not to post anything about the contest until the full story ran. “What full story?” asked Laura.

It turns out he had been a judge in previous King Cake contests, and thought Laura’s had a good chance. It did indeed win Top New Contender, Number 1 in Alabama, and Top Three Overall without her knowing anything about it!  Quite an accomplishment! Like all great cooks, Laura asked herself, “What would I do differently had I known it was for a competition?”

As the news spread, so did the demand, with lines of people wrapped around the building to buy a King Cake. “It was crazy!” she says. What was once a seasonal confection is now a year-round seller. Gourmet Goodies produces both savory King Cakes like the Crawfish, and sweet, traditional King Cakes. They offer five different flavors and now make King Cake Bombs, a box of ‘Minis” that are very popular.

“We have baked King Cakes or Mini’s every week since then. We did 200 minis last week for a wedding and a Birthday King Cake for a young boy who requested it.”  They offer Alabama Sweet Hot, Traditional Cream Cheese, Banana, Apple, and Caramel. “We are revealing two new flavors at the King Cake-Off in Mobile  which benefits the Ronald McDonald House in January.” (She has won that contest before, too.)

So, how did you get into making crawfish king cakes? “It was something I wanted to try. I lived in Denham Springs, Louisiana, just outside of Baton Rouge. Crawfish are everything in Louisiana, so I wanted to create a savory king cake using crawfish.” Now, she has trouble keeping up with demand.

How did Gourmet Goodies begin? “You know, this is not all I do,” she tells me. “I am an ordained minister. I can get you married and cater your reception at the same time. But I don’t do flowers.” She tells me that pretty much her entire family are pastors, and she is the Children’s Pastor at the Bay Minette Campus of Coastal Church.  As she’s telling me this, a customer, Paige, is picking up an order, overhears our conversation, and  pipes up, “And a very good one, too!’  

Laura was born in Oxford, Mississippi, and moved to Daphne in the 9th Grade. She tells me that her father attended law school at Ole Miss but decided not to practice law after attending his last class titled, How to Make a Living Suing People. Instead, he’s had a successful career working with venture capitalists. He, too, is a Pastor at Coastal and we met the week before when I visited Gourmet Goodies.

Laura attended Central Bible College, now Evangel University, in Springfield, Missouri, and earned her Theology Degree in 2000.  Her first pastor position was in Daphne. “That’s where I really began baking. As a children’s minister, I wanted to help raise funds for our youth group to go to camps and other trips. She tells me the church sold $19,000 in Gourmet Apples for a trip to Disney World. 

“I never want anyone to not be able to afford to go on a youth group trip, so I figured out a way to raise the funds through bake sales and such. I have a saying, “If money is a problem, there is no problem.” We can raise it.” This led to a very profitable cake auction. After the fundraisers, people began calling on her to make more apples and cakes. I started doing them on the side and after about a year, I started doing Holiday Meals, and shortly after came Gourmet Goodies. 

Laura’s ministry took her to a church in Orange Beach, and then to Decatur, Alabama. As she was moving to North Alabama, her brother and sister-in-law founded Coastal Church in Daphne. On the 7th anniversary of Coastal Church, her brother, Chad Stafford, asked her if she would cater a celebration for 700 people. She did all the cooking in Decatur and brought it down using the Daphne Civic Center’s kitchen, where the event was held, to warm and plate the dinner.

After the anniversary event, Chad asked Laura to consider moving back home and coming on staff as the Hospitality Minister. Six months later, she was back in Daphne serving coffee and cooking free breakfast for worshipers, as well as lunch after the service, preparing Wednesday night dinners, and serving small group events. 

As Coastal Church grew they decided to launch a building campaign. For her part in the building pledge, Laura wanted to donate money from her earnings at  Gourmet Goodies. “People would pick up meals and cakes from the church and then start asking questions about it. We were growing both Coastal Church and my business.” That was eight years ago.

After the Coastal Church Cafe was built, Laura managed and rented the kitchen to run Gourmet Goodies. Soon she needed a bigger space to meet demand. Laura found her current location off Highway 98 in Daphne and moved her operations two years ago. In addition to take-out meals, she expanded the menu and the catering business to allow for bigger parties and weddings.

“We doubled the business when we moved here. We’ve almost outgrown this space too.” Laura employs 13 people, including Merideth Latham, who was in her youth group in Decatur years ago. Today, Meredith is the Campus Coordinator at Coastal Church’s Bay Minette campus and has helped Laura run the shop since the beginning.

“Gourmet Goodies is a family. We love each other and work hard and play hard as well. Our customers are a part of our family and we love them and look forward to seeing them.” Laura lives by a quote she grew up hearing both her parents say to them all of the time, “When you do right, right will follow you.” She tells me that everybody has a story, everybody has a name, and our job is to find those things out. That’s something our team does really well.”

“You have to care,” she says. “I love people, but children are my heart.” As the mother of an adopted child, she says one day she wants to buy property and build a Children’s Home. “There are 160 kids on a waiting list for placement homes right now in Baldwin County. I want to change that statistic and I believe that Gourmet Goodies will help fund that dream.”

Laura keeps adding to her services and products “Time is the sacred cow in America these days. The more time I can save people and the fewer stops they have to make is more time saved for my customers. She’s created partyware and home decor in addition to adding more pastries, jellies, and homemade bread to the store’s offerings. “We can do it all, and make a friend for life doing it.”

For the holidays, she will have a corner of the store stocked with charcuterie boards, wreaths, gift baskets, and candles. “Themed partyware with matching cakes, cookies, and food. We want to be a one-stop shop.” Gourmet Goodies offers a full menu for Thanksgiving. Order now from the Thanksgiving Menu and plan to receive a pick-up time slot on Tuesday. They do lots of corporate Holiday celebrations as well.

When she’s not cooking, catering, or winning King Cake contests, Laura likes to spend time with her friends. She calls her girl gang, Ladies that Lunch. “We dine at a favorite lunch spot and spend the day shopping." 

For the past couple of years, before she has Thanksgiving with her family, she has prepared and served Thanksgiving meals to families whose children have cancer and are going through treatment in the hospital. Then the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, she's off to the races with her sister and girlfriends for at least ten hours of shopping. "Most people hate dealing with the crowds, but I love it!”

As we conclude, Laura shares that her mom and dad instilled in her the fact that your name will carry on long after you are gone; and having a good name is the end goal. “They would just remind us to love God and love people and everything will work out in the end.”

Thanks, Laura. You are truly a special person!