King Cakes

Looking for king cakes in Mobile Alabama? Read on for some history of Mardi gras in our fair port city and a roundup of some local offerings around the Gulf Coast.

When everyone else is packing up their Christmas decorations in early January and succumbing to a slight post-holiday funk, revelers all around the Gulf Coast (and in Europe and South America, too) are gearing up for another major holiday season: Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras and King Cakes

Mardi Gras or Carnival, as it’s known in other parts of the world, is a weeks-long celebration of Catholic origins between Twelfth Night/Epiphany (the celebration of the three wise men’s visit to the baby Jesus) and culminating on “Fat Tuesday” (named for the tradition of feasting on meat, milk, cheese, butter, and everything else that tastes good).

Today’s celebrations involve parades, balls, beads, luscious and decadent food, and plenty of booze. It’s your one last chance to party until midnight on Ash Wednesday, when everyone goes home to fast and repent for the forty days of Lent. New Orleans is, by far, the most famous North American city to revel; however, 14 years before New Orleans was founded, the fair port city of Mobile, Alabama, held the very first Mardi Gras in 1703.

King Cake Mobile AL
G’s Bakery Almond Creme king cake, (front); USA Children’s and Women’s king cake (back)

One of the most ubiquitous (edible) symbols of the Mardi Gras season is a king cake: a braided yeast dough confection filled with cinnamon, glazed, and dusted with sugars in the emblem colors of the season: gold (power), green (faith) and purple (justice).

History of the King Cake

The first king cake hailed from France, and was much closer to bread than cake. A bean, hidden within the dough, granted the finder the privilege of being queen or king of the day. Today, king cakes customarily come with a little plastic baby, representing baby Jesus, for the buyer to place inside the cake. The finder of the baby is granted luck and the obligation to bring a king cake to the next gathering.

I set a lofty goal this season: to taste as many local king cakes in Mobile as I could, and present the findings to you, dear readers, so that you may be informed the next time you “laissez les bon temps rouler.” The easiest way to do this was to invite a bunch of king cake-loving friends over one Sunday morning. Each brought a local offering, and I provided the coffee and mimosas. The cakes ranged from ultra-traditional to king cake-inspired, and they were all delicious.

King Cakes in Mobile, Alabama

Cream and Sugar (Sucré)

The venerable Sucré, a New Orleans confectioner specializing in French macarons, has made their much-lauded king cakes and macarons available to Mobile. Cream and Sugar, the Oakleigh cafe/coffee shop/bakery, receives deliveries of king cakes and macarons from Sucré on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Sucré king cake is for the king cake purists. It’s a cinnamon-scented, buttery brioche with just a whisper of creole cream cheese filling. “Excellent croissant-like texture and the perfect balance of sweetness,” Amy declared. It’s not too sweet and is just right accompanied by a cup of coffee. Flavor: cream cheese. Price: $25. To order, call Cream and Sugar (351 George Street) at (251) 405-0003 or go to Sucré’s website for shipping anywhere in the U.S.

Greer’s Downtown Market

The praline king cake (made by Cartozzo’s Bakery in Kenner, Lousiana) available at Greer’s grocery stores has a sunny yellow interior, doubtlessly from the eggs and butter that lend this cake its richness. A generous filling of brown sugar praline oozes out of the sweet dough, and pecans scattered on top of the colored sugar offer up a nutty crunch. Flavors: traditional (cinnamon), cream cheese, praline pecan, praline cream cheese,, strawberry, lemon, blueberry, apple, strawberry cream cheese. Price: $12. Call Greer’s Downtown Market at 851 Government Street (corner of Broad and Government) to order at (251) 432-0100 or visit their website for your closest location.

front: Party Palace king cake from Allegri; middle: Greer’s Cottage Hill king cake

Greer’s at Cottage Hill

Almost all of Greer’s stores stock Cartozzo’s king cakes; the Cottage Hill location, whose bakers make their own, is the exception. We tried the raspberry filled king cake, which was generously frosted, tightly braided and bursting with filling. With sweet and tender pastry and a perfectly light icing, Greer’s on Cottage Hill makes a lovely, classic rendition of a king cake. Flavors: endless. Price: $7. Call (251) 666-1329 or stop in at 4055 Cottage Hill Rd.

Pollman’s Bake Shops

Pollman’s Bake Shops, one of Mobile’s oldest family-owned bakeries, has been satisfying the area’s sweet teeth since 1918, and their king cakes are no exception. Baked fresh every day, the dough is light and flaky, studded with pecans, and laced with tangy cream cheese. To the classic green, gold, and purple, they add blue and pink for a riotously colorful cake. Included with the cake is a card explaining the baby tradition. They regularly stock cream cheese mini ($2.99), small, large, and extra large king cakes in their store, no order required. For other flavors, call to order. Small and large cakes can be shipped anywhere. Flavors: Plain (cream cheese), or cream cheese strawberry, cream cheese lemon, or cream cheese raspberry. Price: $14-30 depending on size. 4464 Old Shell Road (and various locations) or call (251) 438-1511.

Cream Cheese King Cake, Pollman’s Bake Shops, Mobile, AL

USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital

Although seemingly incongruous, this hospital cafeteria churns out delectable king cakes. It reminded me of the inside of a cinnamon roll (the best part).  Elizabeth described it as “gooey, sweet, and underdone in the most perfect way.” Show up at 11am if you want a specific flavor, for they put out twelve a day through Mardi Gras week on a first-come-first-served basis. Flavors: cinnamon, cream cheese, strawberry cream cheese,  pecan praline cream cheese. Price: $9.99. Located on the first floor of Children’s and Women’s at 1700 Center Street.

King Cake from USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital, Mobile

Eastern Shore and Gulf Coast

Allegri Farm Market

This Eastern Shore farmer’s market stocks cakes from the Kenner, Louisiana’s bakery Party Palace. Tender and beribboned with a thick layer of cinnamon and positively covered with sweet icing, this king cake is a classic, sweet treat. Sarah called it, “fluffy and soft,” and I concur wholeheartedly. Flavors: traditional cinnamon, praline, cream cheese, apple, lemon, and strawberry.  Price: $19 from Allegri at 9948 Co Rd 64, Daphne or Party Palace ships for $40 anywhere in the US.

Le Bakery & Cafe

If you find yourself in or around Biloxi, stop by Le Bakery & Cafe, Biloxi’s Vietnamese-French bakery. Famous for their banh mi, (a Vietnamese baguette sandwich, usually pork) this cafe also makes a dynamite king cake. Our cream cheese, raspberry, and Bavarian cream filled king cake was huge, heavily frosted, and soft and tender. The Bavarian cream was balanced in its sweetness, which served as a perfect foil to the cake and frosting. Flavors: endless. (I’m intrigued by their “Almond Joy”: chocolate filled with almonds and shredded coconut on top.) Price: $14.99 for standard large size. Stop by at 280 Oak Street in Biloxi, or call (228) 436-0850 to order.

Warehouse Bakery and Donuts

Warehouse Bakery & Donuts, home of the “Squeelin’ Pig Biscuit,” offers seven flavors of king cake, along with their breakfast biscuits and bowls, doughnuts and pastries. They eschew the usual colored sugars in favor of vibrant, opaque purple, green, and gold glazes, making for a particularly gorgeous cake. Dense, like  a glazed doughnut, the pastry encases the rich, slightly sweet and tangy cream cheese filling. Flavors: cinnamon sugar, cream cheese, blueberry cream cheese, strawberry cream cheese, raspberry cream cheese, German chocolate, pecan cinnamon sugar. Price: $12-40 depending on size and filling. Stop by at 759 Nichols Ave in Fairhope or call (251) 928-7223 to order.

Cream Cheese King Cake from Warehouse Bakery, Fairhope

Bottom line: Mobile (and its surroundings) is home to some delectable king cakes perfect for  celebrating our Mardi Gras season. Prefer to bake your own? Here’s a recipe for a Pecan Praline Cream Cheese King Cake that will knock your beads off!

Did we leave out your favorite local king cake? Please let us know in the comments (or better yet, send us a photo on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and we’ll share it!)