King Ralph – Ralph’s market gears up for Mardi Gras

Carnival season officially begins Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, but Louisianans know it’s here when stacks of white rectangular boxes adorned in purple, green and gold appear in local grocery stores. King cakes are back, and most locals will pick up more than one before Ash Wednesday brings the Carnival festivities to a close. Supermarkets and bakeries take Louisiana’s favorite pastry seriously, but few outlets have the same following as Gonzales-based independent grocery store Ralph’s Market.

Founded in 1984, with three locations in the greater Baton Rouge area, Ralph’s has built a large fan base for its homemade king cakes. The store sells an average of 38,000 king cakes every year, topping out at 50,000 in 2010 when the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV.

“We make our king cakes a little different,” says Ralph’s General Manager Brandon Trosclair. “Most people will bake the cake and then inject it with filling. But we inject the filling inside before the dough is cooked, and then bake it together. It makes it really moist. It’s harder to do it this way, but it’s the right way to do it.”

Ralph’s adds about 20 extra workers during Carnival season, which is Jan. 6–Feb. 12 this year. Many of the workers who return to Ralph’s are the same local women who like to bake and enjoy the frenzy, says Trosclair. The store sets up a special assembly area in its warehouse, and the baking takes place around the clock to meet orders. Ralph’s might make a few hundred king cakes a day at the beginning of the season, but as it progresses, teams of bakers work in 24-hour shifts to complete as many as 2,000 king cakes daily.

Trosclair says that in recent years, Ralph’s had reached its capacity, because each king cake was still being formed and injected by hand. This year, he installed an automated filler that will speed up production and maintain quality.

“It’s really important to me that we are able to keep our consistency from king cake to king cake, and this will help us do that,” he says.

Ralph’s cakes come in two sizes and more than 40 flavors, many of which stem from customer requests. “We do all the basic fruits, a Mississippi Mud and a Zulu, of course. You can also add cream cheese, pecans or walnuts to any of them,” says Trosclair.

The store is also known for a New Orleans-style braided king cake, in which thin ropes of cinnamon-speckled dough are braided then arranged in a ring and baked.

Rather than sprinkle the cakes with customary dyed sugar, Ralph’s ices its cakes with a sweet roll frosting and airbrushes on the trio of carnival colors: purple, green and gold. For more information, go to ralphsag.com.