King Cake rant

I have to agree. I've honestly never understood the hype. I do occasionally like a king cake from the Randazzo family but that's more nostalgia for me since I grew up in The Parish and the only king cakes we ever got were from Randazzo's until I was around 18. The rest to me vary from bad to meh.

I freely admit that I'm not a candy or cake person, but I just don't get the obsession with king cakes. Is it just that it's a good excuse to eat a bunch of sweets for month?

I will say that actual French king cakes are very good. But, to the extent I like sweets, I prefer things like Napoleons, pies, and tarts over cake.
I think this is why many (including myself) are snotty about ONLY having king cake in season
Evaluating it as JUST a pastry misses most of the point
It’s like trying to separate whole turkey from thanksgiving

We, in this country, have so few ritual celebrations that I feel it’s important to hang onto the few we have