The best king cake in New Orleans is the one that follows the rules, and there are more rules than people think. It doesn't show up before January 6. It hides a baby somewhere. Whoever gets that baby buys the next one, and the plastic knife stays in the box.
Everything past that is an argument. Filling or no filling, icing or sugar, which bakery, how big a slice is polite: people in this town will fight about all of it at an office party. We're not going to settle that here. What we can do, after twenty years of Carnival seasons behind the counter on Magazine Street and Chartres Street, is tell you what counts. If you want the general overview first, start with our post on king cakes and the tiny plastic baby.
What a Traditional King Cake Actually Is
Start with the basics. 64 Parishes describes the New Orleans king cake as a "round, braided, sweet cinnamon pastry or bread," decorated in the Carnival colors. That's the classic: a ring, with cinnamon in the dough.
It has relatives all over Europe. 64 Parishes connects it to the French galette des rois and the Spanish roscón de reyes, among others, all tied to the feast of the Epiphany on January 6.
The New Orleans version took off in 1871, when the Twelfth Night Revelers held a ball with a cake that had a gold bean hidden inside. A young woman named Emma Butler found it and became, according to 64 Parishes, the first queen of Mardi Gras. By the 1930s, the braided ring was standard, and bakeries started selling cheaper versions to everybody.
Fillings came later. Cream cheese, praline, strawberry, savory ones with boudin. Purists will tell you a filled cake isn't traditional, and they're technically right. They'll also eat three slices of the cream cheese one when nobody's looking.
Rule One: Not Before Twelfth Night
King cake season starts on January 6, Twelfth Night, and runs through Mardi Gras day. That's the window.
Eating king cake in December is a choice people make, and you can usually find somebody willing to sell you one. Plenty of locals will tell you it's bad luck, or at least bad manners. Eating one after Ash Wednesday is worse. The season ends, the cake goes away, and you wait.
That's the whole appeal, honestly. A thing you can only get for a few weeks a year tastes better than a thing you can get any time.
Rule Two: The Baby
Somewhere in a king cake is a tiny baby. If it lands in your slice, you're the king or queen for the day, and you're on the hook for the next cake.
The baby has its own history. According to an NPR report, a baker named Donald Entringer at McKenzie's, the big New Orleans commercial bakery, started baking small porcelain dolls into king cakes in the 1940s after a traveling salesman had too many to sell. When the porcelain ran out, McKenzie's switched to plastic babies, and plastic became the standard. 64 Parishes says plastic babies were the norm by the 1960s.
These days a lot of bakeries pack the baby separately instead of baking it in. NPR's report pointed to liability concerns. So now somebody has to hide it, and that person has to be trusted.
This is where office politics come in. Everybody knows that if you find the baby and quietly hide it in a napkin to dodge buying the next cake, God sees you.
Rule Three: The Knife Stays in the Box
Here's the one visitors never know about.
The box usually comes with a plastic knife. In an office or a family kitchen, that knife stays with the box. You cut your slice and you put it back. You do not walk off with it to cut your own lunch, and you definitely don't throw it away while there's still cake left. The next person needs it.
Is this written down anywhere? No. Is it enforced? Absolutely. That's why we made a shirt about it. The Knife Stays In The Box is our tribute to the unwritten Carnival rules, from king cake etiquette to parade ladders.
Rule Four: Don't Get Too Weird With It
Every year somebody stuffs a king cake with something it shouldn't have in it. Sometimes it's great. Sometimes it's a gimmick.
New Orleans already did the definitive joke about this, by the way. The fake commercials for Larry Ragusa's King Cakes gave the world the muffuletta king cake, with olive salad inside, and every new trend since has to measure up against that. If your cake sounds like it belongs in a Ragusa commercial, think about it.
So Which Bakery Has the Best One?
The one your family buys from. Seriously.
Everybody in New Orleans grew up with a king cake, and that's the one they'll defend. Ask ten people and you'll get ten bakeries, plus an argument. Try a few this season and pick a side. That's half the fun.
If you can't wait for January, we keep the season going year round with a King Cake Candle, which burns for around 40 to 50 hours and does not contain a baby. For whoever always seems to find it, there's the King Cake Baby Enamel Pin. And if this is your first Carnival, our guide to what to do during Mardi Gras covers the rest of the season.
Best King Cake New Orleans: FAQ
What makes a king cake traditional?
64 Parishes describes the traditional New Orleans king cake as a round, braided, sweet cinnamon pastry decorated in Carnival colors. A small baby or other prize is hidden inside or packed with the cake.
When can you eat king cake in New Orleans?
King cake season runs from January 6, Twelfth Night, through Mardi Gras day. Many locals consider it bad luck to eat one outside the season.
What happens if you get the baby in a king cake?
You're king or queen for the day, and you're expected to bring the next king cake. Some bakeries now pack the baby outside the cake so the host can hide it.
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