Our favorite king cakes of 2025 and where to get your hands on them in Baton Rouge

It’s crunch time. We’re one week out from what will likely be our last bites of king cake for the year.

A long Carnival season means we’ve had about three weeks longer to indulge than we did last year. Our team has been taking inventory, cataloging what we’ve tried and what we’re still hoping to squeeze in before the last beads are thrown.

And while we might not be quite on Matt Haines’ level—with his spreadsheet of 100-plus king cakes and all—here are some we’ve been loving lately.

Poupart Bakery

Pick up at: Local independent supermarkets. Bet-R-Grocery stocks the galette des rois side-by-side with the more familiar brioche rings.

“The first and last king cake I buy every year is Poupart’s traditional French king cake made with puff pastry stuffed with a thin layer of frangipane. Follow the instructions and heat it in the oven before serving. The payoff is yummy layers of delicate puff pastry punctuated with soft and sweet almond paste. Like more common king cakes, these also feature a baby. If you like almond croissants, you have to try one.”

—Maggie Heyn Richardson, 225 features writer

Eloise Market and Cakery

Pick up at: 320 Lee Drive, Suite D

“This king cake gets a mention because I had a hand in making it! I participated in one of Eloise Market and Cakery’s king cake-making classes this Carnival season and would recommend it to anyone. There are a few spots left, so get your tickets fast! I am very much a novice baker, but Eloise founder and owner MJ Schmidt Burr guided us through each step of crafting our own carnival creation—from adding the filling to decorating the top in purple, gold and green—with such confidence and ease. It was a super fun evening, and I loved getting to learn something new. Our cakes weren’t quite as elaborate as some of Eloise’s leveled-up versions, but they were still quite tasty. And we got to sample slices straight out of the oven, which unlocked even more new king cake knowledge for this near-lifelong Louisianan. Lesson learned: Hot king cake is somehow about 10 times better than room-temperature king cake.”

—Laura Furr Mericas, 225 managing editor

Brennan’s

Pick up at: Robért Fresh Market (7355 Highland Road) and Total Wine & More (7074 Siegen Lane)

“From the king cakes I was able to sample this Mardi Gras season, the Pink Parade king cake by New Orleans classic Brennan’s stuck out the most. Maybe that’s because the neon pink glitter king cake can’t be ignored in a lineup, or maybe it’s because of the inside’s whipped cream cheese and preserved Ponchatoula strawberry filling from Johnsdale Farm. Either way, it’s sweet as can be, and I loved it. The cakes are created with brioche dough and are glazed with pink cocoa butter and strawberry icing. The sparkles and pink-and-white sugar pebbles on top really sell it for me. It’s just adorable! I’m all about aesthetics. If it’s pretty, it’s safe to assume I’ll love it. But this king cake isn’t just gorgeous—the strawberry filling is so sweet and rich, and the flavor pervades through the whole cake. Pink Parade is THE cake of the season to me, for both visual appeal and taste.”

—Gracelyn Farrar, 225 contributing writer

Nonna Randazzo’s Bakery

Pick up at: Robért Fresh Market (7355 Highland Road) 

“Yes, this is the same bakery I chose last year. So what? I am proudly loyal to my hometown’s king cake staple (the only one I ever remember having growing up), and I think anyone would be once they’ve had a slice. Now, I don’t know if I’ve sampled every single Randazzo family bakery to see if one is making the family recipe a little bit better than the rest. But I do know Nonna Randazzo’s has got the traditional confection down pat. I can’t go a Carnival season without taking a trip to the Covington location to nab a cake. My favorite is strawberry-and-cream-cheese-filled, but right now my boyfriend and I are quickly working our way through a Bavarian cream one. And though Nonna Randazzo’s boasts tons of fillings and flavors, don’t sleep on the traditional. Every cake starts super fresh with the most perfect and cinnamon-filled bready braid covered in a sticky sweet icing and doused in festive nonpareils. OK, all this talk has me taking a trip to my kitchen to grab another slice. Trust me on this one: You’ve gotta try a Randazzo’s cake once in your life. If you can’t score one locally, the Covington location is only about an hour or so away. Get going!”

—Olivia Deffes, 225 digital editor

Rouses Markets

Pick up at: Various locations

“As a new Baton Rouge resident who had never had a king cake until moving to Louisiana, my knowledge on them is understandably limited. What I have quickly come to understand, though, is that king cake choices can be controversial. That said, of all that I have tried in the Capitol Region so far, I always find myself back at Rouses. Call me a traditionalist, but I love a simple king cake without the filling or additional flavors. I appreciate when a king cake is more on the cinnamon roll side rather than the cake side. I think Rouses does it well at an affordable price. It takes the cake for me, pun intended.”

—Avery White, 225 contributing writer and photographer

Dong Phuong Vietnamese Bakery

Pick up at: Authorized resellers like Sweet Society, Saigon Hong Kong Seafood Market, Pho Café, Bao Asian Market and A&J’s Coffee Bean

“Working in the media, I get tired of king cake way too early. Every coworker is bringing in some sort of version of the classic dessert weeks or even months before Fat Tuesday. One coworker brought in a variety I had never had before, though: the coveted king cake from Dong Phuong Vietnamese Bakery. One slice, and I was hooked. Just the sight of it drew me in, the creamy frosting didn’t look like your usual king cake. What started as ‘just one taste’ on my way home from work ended in ‘I wish I had more.’ It wasn’t until later that I learned about the buttercream frosting and the brioche used to make the cake. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be getting tired of king cakes this year. At least not until after Mardi Gras.”

—Oscar Tickle, 225 multimedia editor

The Ambrosia Bakery

Pick up at: 8546 Siegen Lane

“Maybe one day I’ll try another flavor from Ambrosia. But it’s not Mardi Gras season for me if I haven’t had at least one slice of its Zulu King Cake, slathered with chocolate icing and shreds of coconut and stuffed with cream cheese. I’m just a chocolate girlie through and through. I also appreciate that you can generally stop by the storefront and grab one—great for a last-minute panic-buy ahead of parade day.”

—Jennifer Tormo Alvarez, 225 editor-in-chief

Celtica French Bakery

Pick up at: 218 Robert E. Lee in New Orleans, or try a similar version from Poupart Bakery from Capital Region grocers like Bet-R Grocery

“Around the middle of last week, I admitted to my husband that I (sadly) was feeling a bit burned out on king cake. I blame the longer season and that we’d been working on 225‘s February issue for months, which got me too excited too early in the season. Not a pro move on my part. But on Saturday, while catching parades in New Orleans, I was introduced to Celtica French Bakery’s galette des rois—everything changed. This French pastry-style cake was a great change of pace from the bready, iced and sprinkled versions I’d been loading up on. The crispy, buttery puff pastry crust and delicate almond filling were so light and delicious, and the gorgeous golden, folded swirls on top were almost too pretty to cut into. Still, this cake was gone in minutes. It’s safe to say it reignited my passion for king cake. I was so happy to see that my neighborhood market, Bet-R Grocery, sold a similar version from Poupart Bakery, too. The popular Lafayette bakery’s Traditional French King Cake hit all the similar notes as its Crescent City cousin, but with a little more crunch. I’ll be grabbing at least one more before the end of the week. Or maybe I’ll take a stab at making my own with this similar recipe from our archives!”

—Laura Furr Mericas, 225 managing editor