Where to go in the Jackson area to get king cakes. See our list

Carnival season is underway, and perhaps no place celebrates the Mardi Gras season the way New Orleans does with its carnival krewes, balls and parades, and one of the best things about the season is king cakes.

People from around the world travel to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras and eat some of the best king cakes on the planet.

However, you don't have to go across the state line to New Orleans to find quality king cakes. Many bakeries in and around Jackson have plenty of king cake offerings to purchase and try.

Five Jackson area bakeries that offer king cakes:

Broad Street Baking Company & Café

Broad Street Baking Company & Café sells themed king cakes year-round. But their traditional Mardi Gras-inspired king cakes are only sold during Carnival season, which is Jan. 6, and culminates on Mardi Gras Day, which is Tuesday, Feb. 13, this year. Broad Street also offers original almond cream cheese king cakes and a NOLA-traditional-style cinnamon king cake.

"King cakes are something that we always bring forward during carnival season but each season we make king cakes," said Jeff Good, owner of Broad Street Baking Company & Café. "Sometimes it's seven weeks. This year it's five weeks, and we are probably going to do about 3,000 to 3,200 king cakes. It's a very high-demand product, so every day, everything we bake, we sell."

Broad Street has been operating out of Banner Hall for 25 years and is one of the most well-known bakeries in Jackson.

Good said making king cakes is a labor of love.

"It's a buttered brioche dough, and we make long tubes such as a snake out of Play-Doh, and we make three of those and then we braid it together into a braid, and it looks like the crown of Christ," Good said. "We make ours with butter, eggs, almond pastry cream and cream cheese, very high fat, very high calorie, very high quality in the ingredients.

"We bake them and then they come out of the oven and are iced with a sugar icing and sanding sugars and always comes in three colors, green, gold and purple. Those colors all represent something in the story of a king cake. Purple is for royalty of kings and Christ. The gold is power and green is faith. There is also a little plastic baby that comes with the king cakes, which represents the baby Jesus, and tradition is you hide the baby inside the cake, people cut the cake and whoever gets the baby in their slice, at the next party, they have to bring a king cake."

Location:

• Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 Suite #101, Jackson

Campbell's Bakery

Campbell's offers an individual version of their iced-brioche king cake. Their types of king cakes include the traditional cinnamon sugar and cinnamon cream cheese, with flavors of pecan praline, blueberry cream cheese, apple cream cheese and strawberry cream cheese.

Location:

• 3013 N. State St., Jackson

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Turquoise Chandelier

Known for specializing in birthday cakes, wedding cakes, cupcakes and more for special occasions and moments, Turquoise Chandelier also offers king cakes.

"It's a pretty tedious process," said Amy McNeill, owner of the Turquoise Chandelier. "I use a bread paste and cream cheese in mine, and it literally takes a couple of hours and I usually bake them at home and just bring them into the bakery because I'm the only baker here. So, If a person pre-orders with me, I can have them ready within 48 hours."

Location:

• 320 Belle Meade Point D, Flowood

Beagle Bagel Madison

Beagle Bagel is also a go-to bakery spot for cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes and king cakes made from a traditional brioche dough of flavored cinnamon, cream cheese, strawberry and blueberry.

Location:

• Mannsdale Park Drive, Madison

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Sugar Magnolia Takery

Sugar Magnolia Takery is serving up king cakes in three sizes with flavors, including praline pecan, cinnamon, chocolate Bavarian and fruit filled: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, lemon and apple.

Location:

• 5417 MS-25 Suite F, Flowood

Know an event coming up or have a good story idea? Reporter Kiara Fleming can be reached via email [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Good king cakes available in Jackson MS area