Rochester, NYKing Cake

Baker Street Bakery on Park Avenue makes king cakes with a choice of cheese, praline or cinnamon filling. Pick the praline if you want a filling beyond the familiar cinnamon cake. The shop takes orders for the seasonal bake, and its bread ovens also turn out the artisan loaves that fill the regular counter.

Savoia Pastry Shoppe makes its king cake with sweet cinnamon dough. The Clifford Avenue shop has baked Italian pastries for generations, and its Carnival cake stays close to that bakery tradition. Look for the cinnamon cake when the seasonal run returns, alongside the cookies and other pastries at the counter.

Amazing Grains Bread Co. bakes its king cake with a sweet yeast dough, a sweet cream cheese and cinnamon filling, and a Bundt-pan shape. Order one from the Fairport bread bakery for the Carnival season. The ring-shaped cake comes from the same shop known locally for its everyday artisan loaves.

Leo's Bakery and Deli makes an oval king cake marked by a thin ribbon of cinnamon. Ask the East Rochester bakery to set one aside ahead of your visit during the Carnival season. Its pastry counter and deli share the same Despatch Drive shop, so the cake comes from a working neighborhood bakery rather than a seasonal pop-up.

The Red Fern gives king cake a doughnut form at its Oxford Street vegan restaurant. Its king cake doughnut is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free and soy-free. This is the plant-based detour in the set: a Carnival-season pastry from a kitchen that also runs a bakery, rather than a whole ring cake.