King Cakes On The Brain? SWLA Bakeries Provide Delectable Options

by Matt Dye

Local bakeries in Southwest Louisiana are rolling out their most decadent displays of the Mardi Gras season, the blessed King Cake. While everyone has a favorite, these six locations offer some of the best and most creative King Cakes. Some with flavors you can’t find anywhere else.

French Market Donuts at 2740 Gerstner Memorial Drive offers beautifully decorated King Cakes filled with everything from cream cheese to lemon, blueberry, strawberry, chocolate, and more. What might be even more tempting are their Mini King Cakes, which are perfect single serve gifts. They come plain or filled with any of the flavors. For those looking for something more savory than sweet, they have a Boudin King Cake with pepper jack boudin, white queso dip, and a jar of pepper jelly.

Delicious Donuts at 2283 Country Club Road has rare fare on the savory side, with not only a Boudin King Cake, but also a Blend of the Bayou King Cake, which combines cheese, crawfish, shrimp, imitation crab meat, and Cajun spices. It’s topped with more cheese, jalapenos, and bacon. They even offer a Jambalaya King Cake. Don’t worry, they have the sweet stuff too, and they ship so you can send friends in other states a little Louisiana happiness.

Great Harvest Bread Company at 4112 Lake Street is the place to go if you like blueberry, as their Blueberry King Cake is infused with a whole pound of blueberry cream cheese filling. Blueberry not your thing? They’ve also got a Cinnamon Twist, Cinnamon Cream Cheese, Chocolate Twist, a Turtle (with chocolate, caramel, and pecans), as well as their popular White Chocolate Pecan Praline. If you like apples, be sure to ask about their Apple Cinnamon, but that one you’ll need to order ahead of time.

Helen St. Bakehouse at 1736 Common Street has a pretty spectacular Blueberry King Cake as well that has all the kids raving. They’re also debuting their version of a Pecan Praline this season in a response to a request for nuts options. They have the savory side covered with their own version of the Boudin King Cake with a crawfish cheese sauce.

Cypi’s Cake Box at 520 West McNeese Street may be better known for their traditional cakes, but they know how to throwdown for Mardi Gras as well. Concentrating on perfecting the traditional, Cypi’s is an easy favorite among Lake residents. They also have King Cake cupcakes, which when brought to any office function, mysteriously disappear.

Our last hidden gem lies at Misse’s Grocery, 106 East Lincoln Street in Sulphur. They have all the homemade flavors you would expect to find, but also rarer options that’ll make you eager to drive on over to try. The first is their Pecan Praline, which has just the right amount of sugar/nut ratio to have you going for a second piece. They also have a Peanut Butter King Cake, which is a flavor that needs to be tried at least once.

Let’s give all of our local businesses lots of love this Mardi Gras season!