Most everywhere else around the country, the post-Christmas period is dull, restrained and void of pageantry. Just as decorations are tucked away until next year, indulgent food is tamed by healthy restraint. Not so in Louisiana, where the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6 triggers the start of Carnival and its ubiquitous king cakes.
Everyone has a favorite vendor and flavor, but this year’s lengthy Carnival season gives you plenty of time to sample the broad bounty of king cakes available in Baton Rouge, including those hard-to-find ones. Here are five standout, under-the-radar king cakes to try.
Gourmet Girls
Portion control meets indulgence in Gourmet Girls’ King Cake Cupcake. Chef-owner Katia Mangham created her signature Carnival treat after an overrun of homemade brioche dough a couple of years ago. She morphed the surplus into a cinnamon-spiked oversized cupcake, glazing it with a combination of confectioner’s sugar and whipping cream and gilding it with dyed sugar and edible glitter. It even gets its own baby. Find Gourmet Girls on Facebook
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Forte Grove
Forte Grove Bakery, a Red Stick Farmers Market vendor based in Plaquemine, features traditional almond-filled French king cakes, or galette des rois. The almond filling is homemade, and so is the puff pastry that surrounds it. In keeping with the Old World tradition, baker Kathleen Cooper includes tiny porcelain fèves (figurines) with the classic cakes, a step up from plastic babies. Forte Grove also features a chocolate king cake, the Chocitoulas, made with Forte Grove’s chocolate bread and topped with house-made caramel, chocolate ganache and candied brittle. Find Forte Grove on Facebook
Nannette Mayhall
Garden District-based cottage baker Nannette Mayhall’s desserts are available at restaurants like Yvette Marie’s Café and DiGiulio Bros. Italian Café, but she’s also known for small-batch baked goods, including seasonal king cakes made with handmade sweet dough and hand-dyed sugar. Mayhall bakes each cake to order—often before sunrise on the day it’s scheduled for pick up. Her king cake rings come in two sizes and several flavors, including a classic cinnamon and cream cheese, raspberry with fresh berries, praline and others. Order by calling 343-4530
Nonna Randazzo’s
In greater New Orleans, the Randazzo family has been preparing beloved king cakes since the original Hi-Lan Bakery first opened in St. Bernard Parish in 1965. Hi-Lan has closed, but the family’s recipes carry on through modern venues Manny Randazzo’s, Randazzo’s Camelia City and Nonna Randazzo’s, which opened in 2006 in Covington. Nonna’s sells signature hand-braided, iced king cakes using the original Randazzo recipe in two locations in Baton Rouge, Carnival Mart (8696 Florline Blvd.) and Capital City Crawfish and Cajun Specialties (5355 Government St.). nonnaskingcakes.com
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Thee Heavenly Donut
There’s a certain king cake constituency that favors deep-fried dough, and if you fall into that camp, this is your spot. Available in three sizes, the king cakes here can be filled and topped with a multitude of mix-and-match options. Recurring flavors include “Louisiana Cajun Mud,” filled with both Bavarian cream and chocolate and topped with cream cheese and chopped pecans. The Bananas Foster includes banana cream filling and rum caramel topping. Thee Heavenly Donut is also part of the growing trend of Louisiana bakers to serve sweet and savory boudin king cakes. Theirs are available only at the Highland Road location. theeheavenlydonuts.com
This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.