Mardi Gras is getting into full swing in New Orleans today with parades beginning in earnest. It is CRUNCH TIME, for real. I have so so many king cakes left to tell you about. So many cakes, so little time. Today’s review is… unique. I promise I’m going somewhere with it, so please, don’t stop reading here. Yes, today is the gas station edition. Don’t stop reading here, either! I am reviewing the Mission Street Cafe blueberry king cake.

I did some further research on Mission Street Cafe and this may have influenced my softening of this review. Mission Street Cafe is a family-owned business whose patriarch built an Exxon station in 1997. Later on, the family opened a convenience store and then a breakfast cafe. That breakfast cafe was then reworked into a larger “restaurant-style facility.” They specialize in Louisiana fare such as shrimp poboys and fried gizzards. As far as I can tell, they do not specialize in king cake. I hope y’all know by now that I am not here to trash anyone’s small business, although I’m happy to call out a subpar cake when I see one. I’m more critical of large-scale operations that have tons of resources. We support small businesses here! Let’s proceed.

I paid $4.59 for this, which I think is a pretty hefty price for gas station king cake, no? I then sat in my car where I photographed the cake and ate it. All of it. Yes. I ate the whole thing primarily because I was hungry and secondarily because it was funny. But that tells you something—it really wasn’t that bad. It was just fine! I mean, it wasn’t my favorite king cake, obviously, but I wouldn’t have been entirely embarrassed to serve this on the parade route, either. Let’s break it down.

The dough was fairly standard if not unmemorable. I would say it was entirely inoffensive. It was light and soft enough to not be deemed “bread” and had a fine flavor. I have not given it a second thought since eating this, though. The icing, also, was standard. I thought the amount of icing was appropriate. It didn’t exactly make a beautiful presentation, and the sugar looked a little… rushed? But again, there was nothing I particularly disliked here.

The filling. Okay, I’ll start by saying that no less than 30 minutes before I ate this, I ate fresh organic blueberries that I had brought with me. I love fruit! I love blueberries! I am a spoiled millennial who fortunately can afford to feed myself mostly organic fruits and vegetables! I am very fortunate, indeed. So, yea, the juxtaposition between my fresh organic blueberries and this filling was… striking. This was not fresh. This maybe was not actual blueberries? I’m sure it was something akin to blueberries at one time, but what was in this cake was dark blue syrup. I mean, I ate it. It was edible. It was sugary. It was fine.

Earlier that day, I had received a message from someone I know with some very helpful intel. I joked a couple of days ago about having an anonymous tipster, which was just funny in the context, but this person actually does not want to be identified because they, too, care about small businesses, businesses in general, and not trashing another person’s reputation. Valid! Admirable! I will refer to this person as Dr. Cakesalot. This person is not a doctor (to my knowledge) and is certainly not a medical doctor, but is a trustworthy source. Dr. Cakesalot had noticed that in more than one review, I had expressed some confusion about what was going on, either with icing, or dough, or filing, or a combination of elements, and had an explanation. Dr. Cakesalot and I agreed that the people needed to know about this. Transparency in king cakes.

With Dr. C’s consent, I relay the following: “A large number of bakeries use convenience products in the making of their king cakes (and other non seasonal goods as well),” Dr. C tells me. “There are many reasons to do this—consistency, cost, shelf life. There are mixes for doughs, buckets of premade fillings, and icings. This is why often times king cakes from different places can have striking similarities—they use the same mixes and fillings. It’s also why some king cakes can sit on the shelf for a week and still taste ‘fresh.’ Honestly, the faster a break (or king cake) dries out, the more likely it was made from scratch—since it doesn’t have any preservatives or stabilizers.”

Dr. C reiterated that they had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone who used such products, as there are certainly reasons for their use. I agree. But I do think it is good to keep this in mind as we carefully select our king cakes for the remainder of this short carnival season.

So what is the takeaway here? A standard “grocery store king cake” is almost definitely going to have some combination of pre-made dough, icing out of a plastic bucket, and, well, your standard grocery store-aisle quality filling. There are other bakeries that also use these elements, even if you think the cakes are made fully in-house. So be aware! Do some research. You can ask questions! Choose your king cakes carefully! But remember, there is a place and time for a grocery store king cake. It does serve a purpose. For me, personally, I am a lot more interested in small operations that make their products from scratch and by hand. These cost more, of course, but you’re getting what you pay for.

Back to my gas station king cake. My conversation with Dr. Cakesalot was front and center in my mind as I ate the cake, which again, was fine. I am now fairly confident that at least two of the three elements were pre-fabricated. But I still ate the whole thing. It was kind of funny. 2 stars.