Birmingham, ALKing Cake

Birmingham Breadworks is a Southside bakery that bakes king cake during Mardi Gras season. Its cake is a spiced brioche filled with cinnamon cream cheese and finished with a vanilla glaze, and every order comes with a plastic baby to hide yourself and a strand of beads. Order the whole cake to share, or the king cake cinnamon roll, the bakery's second way to eat it.

Edgar's Bakery is a Birmingham bakery with shops around the area, a go-to for cakes, cupcakes and other sweets, and it bakes king cake during Mardi Gras season. The range runs from traditional and cream cheese to pecan praline and strawberry, in full-size cakes to share with friends and a mini king cake for a smaller treat. Order a traditional or cream cheese cake, or try the pecan praline.

Continental Bakery is an English Village bakery whose pastries are made from fresh, local ingredients, and its king cake gets the same care. It is a classic king cake, baked during Mardi Gras season. Order the classic king cake.

Homewood Gourmet is a Homewood cafe known for healthy, seasonal food from sandwiches to salads, and during Mardi Gras season it bakes king cakes in two flavors, classic cinnamon and cream cheese. Its cake carries a tradition of its own: the token is a hidden pecan half, and whoever finds it is in charge of buying next year's cake. Order the cream cheese king cake.

Savage's Bakery is a Homewood bakery on 18th Street South, founded in 1939 and known for its pastries, rolls, breads and smiley face cookies, and during Mardi Gras season its shelves carry king cakes in both cinnamon and cream cheese. The cake is a traditional New Orleans-style king cake, glazed and sprinkled with purple, green and gold. Order the cinnamon or the cream cheese, or one of each.