10 Paris Baguette Cakes, Ranked

Paris Baguette may not be the most widespread bakery in the U.S., but it's certainly getting increasingly popular. There are more than 4,000 stores throughout the globe, with only around 290 located within the U.S. As of early 2026, you can find it in 26 states, such as California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, New York, and others, but it's growing rapidly. The eatery's menu has drinks, pastries, sandwiches, cakes, and more when you're craving something to eat.

Last time I visited Paris Baguette, I sipped my way through a dozen hot beverages (the matcha was my favorite), and this time around I wanted to test out its beautiful cakes. While buying 10 full cakes is a bit much for one person, the chain sells some options by the slice. So, I picked up everything my local store had available to conduct this taste test. I based my ranking on the flavor, texture, appearance, and personal preference to find the best of the bunch. Most of the cakes aren't too sweet, which I totally appreciate. And, to be honest, my top two picks shocked me; I didn't think they'd rank high, let alone in the No. 1 and 2 spots. So, grab a cup of coffee and join me in this caked-up adventure.

I came to my local Paris Baguette store armed with a list of cakes I saw on the website, and the Chocolate Strawberry cake slice was nowhere to be found. When two cakes weren't available in-store, I swapped this one in, so it seemed like a good trade-off — cake availability may vary, so your store may very well have them. While I typically love chocolate, this wasn't chocolatey enough for me. I don't need chocolate to be sweet, but I expect a cocoa profile with earthy undertones that this didn't have. 

This airy cake almost tastes like nothing, except for cream and the thin strawberry slices in between the layers. The cream-to-cake ratio is virtually 50-50, which is far too much cream in my opinion. And the cream doesn't have any flavoring to give it a boost, whether that's cocoa or vanilla. The strawberry slices, while lovely in appearance, make it hard to get a forkful of cake. The fruit slice slides out in its entirety, leaving a gap in the cream. If you like subtle flavors and mildness, this might be a good match. My favorite part is the fruit, so I wouldn't be inspired to order this again.

The Strawberry Soft Cream is basically the vanilla version of the previous cake. It has those same thin pieces of strawberry inside, which suffer the same slippage issue. And, once more, we see a pretty even ratio of cream and cake. While this one has slightly less cream, I'd still prefer more cake. Rather than a light texture, this cake is heavier and denser to give it substance. While there's not a lot of flavor going on in this cake either, I prefer the texture. 

You can feel it in your mouth as you chew, rather than the chocolate version's lightness that kind of falls apart or feels like nothing on the tongue. This weightiness makes the ratio of cream seem more balanced because the cake holds its own rather than succumbing to the richness. The flavor and texture of the Strawberry Soft Cream are more interesting and memorable than the Chocolate Strawberry to solidify its slightly higher rating.

I love a rich chocolate ganache, which is usually a blend of sugar, heavy cream, dark chocolate, and salt. The ganache in this particular cake slice is ganache cream that layers the cake. I like the richness of the cream and the appearance of the chocolate layer on top. The cream is denser and more flavorful in the Ganache Cream than in the two previous cakes, too. It offers a decadent chocolate flavor that lifts the cake into eighth place, but it's not as heavy as I like. Typically, ganache is quite thick and extremely chocolatey, but this weightiness isn't as evident in this application since it is mixed with cream. 

As for the cake, the chocolate cake base itself still lacks dimension. It only seems more cocoa-forward because of the addition of all the other chocolate components of the Ganache Cream slice, but the cake isn't the most riveting of Paris Baguette's offerings. 

While I can't say this is my favorite slice, even as a chocoholic, it's safe to say it's the tastiest of what I've mentioned thus far. This ranking surprised me because I thought the ganache and chocolate cake combo would rank higher by looks alone, but the flavor didn't back that up.

You have to like cream to enjoy most of Paris Baguette's cake slices, and that comes into play once more in the Chocoholic Chiffon cake. Here, we have the chocolate chiffon cake, which is a bit lighter than a typical sponge cake. The cake is layered with soft chocolate cream — lots of cream, that is. The cake is taller than anything thus far, giving it an eye-catching look when next to some of the other slices, but it's mainly that chocolatey cream.

Luckily, the cream is captivating with that cocoa essence of chocolate, making it more flavorful than the other creams. This is needed, though, purely because of how much cream is sandwiched between the cake pieces. The cake itself isn't too fascinating, as I've mentioned in earlier chocolate cakes. While it seems like there are thicker pieces of cake here, there's way more cream than there is of the baked good. While the chocolate cream is appetizing and the most successful of the four cakes mentioned so far, I like the next cake's base more.

Now, we have the Blueberry Chiffon, which nicely delivers a berry-full cake base flavor, with fresh, immaculate blueberries on top and a couple in the cake itself. It's a light, moist cake that tastes like summer time. The blueberry essence whirls around the palate while the delicate, spongy, fluffy cake falls apart with the lightest of bites. It tastes like real blueberries without unpleasant artificial flavoring, allowing the fruitiness to come to the center. 

As I mentioned at the start, the cakes aren't inherently sweet, so this further allows the blueberry to shine through. The soft cream isn't too fascinating, especially because it's applied so thickly, but the cake itself gives the Blueberry Chiffon an advantage over the Chocoholic Chiffon (where the cream was the starring ingredient). I'd be interested in a thinner cream layer or just the cake itself.

The mocha cake is a blend of dense and moist elements to give it a fascinating texture. The mocha flavor comes through in the cake, but it isn't too strong where it tastes like a cup of black coffee; I wouldn't recommend it to a non-coffee lover, though. It's topped with mocha buttercream, which indeed hits on both parts of the name: slightly mocha-y but mainly buttery. I'm glad the buttercream is so thin; it would thoroughly overpower the cake if it were applied any thicker. Even that buttercream design on top offers too much butteriness.

Paris Baguette really has the proportions right with this one. There's also supposed to be caramel sauce, which I see, but it's sparse and could use a little more to offer a nuanced flavor in the mix. My favorite part, though, is the chocolate coffee beans, which (again) taste like both chocolate and coffee, but with more balance. Truth be told, I'd love to purchase a pack of just the chocolate beans. The rich cake, buttercream, and chocolate give the mocha cake the lead over the fruity chiffon.

I love cheesecake. I requested it for my birthday and craved it whilst pregnant, but I usually seek (at least a mildly) tangy cake and a hefty graham cracker crust. A New York-style cheesecake commonly has sour cream to bring that zest, loads of cream cheese to offer creamy richness, and a couple of cups of crushed graham crackers to make up the crust. 

Paris Baguette's NY Style Cheesecake delivers some tang but hardly has any crust. If it did, it'd rank higher, but it's still a decent cake to give it the fourth position. I appreciate the luxurious, creamy nature of the cake, compared to the whipped cream-esque layers of most of the other cakes ranked below. The cheesecake is decadent and not too sweet, so I can appreciate the cake's taste, but I desire (way) more crust. Here, it's shockingly thin, and while it delivers a honeyed taste of graham cracker, it's too soft and doesn't provide the cake's slightly firm foundation as you'd expect. This contrast would be useful because of how dense the cheesecake is.

Alright, now we're talking with my top three cake picks, where I would be pleased to purchase any of the following options. Rather than soaked ladyfingers in a classic tiramisu, we have moist sponge cake layers that are soaked in espresso. They're somewhat damp, kind of like a tres leches cake. You can see some of the wetness at the bottom of the cake, which is pretty normal given the soaked nature of the slice. For the first time, we see only two layers of cake, which I assume is to mimic the standard layers of tiramisu.

The mascarpone cream is a standout among all the other creams thus far; it's thick and memorable, almost like a pudding. It brings substance — in both flavor and texture — to this slice that sets it further up in the ranking. But then, we've got a thorough layer of chocolate curls and a dusting of powdered sugar over the top of the slice. Every element of this cake delivers what it says it's going to: coffee-laden cake, dense mascarpone cream, and cocoa profile from the chocolate curls. I'm unsurprised that I liked this tiramisu cake (given that my family eats and makes tiramisu for holidays), but the next one is a big shocker for me.

While the rainbow cake is undoubtedly alluring, I didn't expect anything from this slice. In fact, I thought it'd rank pretty low because it seemed gimmicky. I was wrong. The cake has a fruitiness that's a bit non-descript when you eat multiple layers at once — kind of like Froot Loops. After a couple more bites, I realized the cake reminded me of King's Hawaiian Paradise Cake (yes, the same brand that makes the Hawaiian sweet rolls). 

The phenomenal Paradise Cake is a layered chiffon cake that has three flavors: guava, passion fruit, lime, and a tropical whipped cream topping. Paris Baguette's iteration is reminiscent of the King's Hawaiian specialty cake. The Paris Baguette website doesn't mention any specific flavors but does note that there's coconut in the allergens area. 

Luckily, the soft cream isn't laid on too thick, where it detracts from the cake's flavor. Despite appearances, the rainbow cake is not just appealing to children; it packs a whimsical and delightful flavor in those vibrant layers. Also, if you have young kids, they will likely feel drawn to the cake based purely on the colors, as my toddler was. On the negative side, the cake was so floppy that it couldn't stand up straight. I had to remove it from the little cake slice thing and put it on a plate before it face-planted (cake-planted?) onto the table. While I felt wildly impressed with the rainbow creation, the next cake is superior.

I surprised myself with this ranking — truly. Never in my life have I been fond of red velvet cake. It's usually uninteresting and subordinate to chocolate cake, in my opinion. The flavor of red velvet is milder than that of chocolate cake since it typically uses less cocoa and no chocolate. Instead, it has an acid in the form of buttermilk or vinegar, which gives it a mildly tangy profile. Similar to the rainbow cake, I tend to find the bright color of the cake a bit gimmicky to detract from the flavor. 

But Paris Baguette has me second-guessing my usual distaste for the red-hued cake. Everything about this slice works. There's a balance of density, sponginess, and moistness. The sponge cake's flavor is rich, with a hint of cocoa, and for the first time, we see cream cheese frosting, which further enhances that tangy note. I preferred the red velvet to the rainbow for two reasons: the thin yet flavorful cream cheese frosting (compared to the soft cream) and the sturdy texture. If you're purchasing a slice or a full cake, you don't necessarily want the cake to fall apart as you cut into it. While I have my personal preferences, I always attempt try things with a fresh lens — that is evident with red velvet taking the first place spot.

These cakes were ranked mostly based on flavor. Cakes that were flavorful and delivered their promised ingredients ranked higher than those that were plain. Texture plays a part, as I preferred moist, but not too-moist cake. Cakes that ranked lower were often dense and dry. Frosting, icings, and creams play their part in both flavor and texture, as some cakes had elements that made the slice more enjoyable, while others seemed excessive. Sometimes the cake's appearance helped it fare better or worse purely based on attractiveness. Lastly, I'm a human being who has preferences, and while I generally try to put them aside (and think I did that here), my personal preferences come into play; so, something I dislike may be your personal favorite.