Cakes A Bloomin’ isn’t a regular pasty shop and I’m not sure many people even know that it has pasties. On the west side of Lansing, Cakes A Bloomin’ specializes in one thing: cakes.

Their products include all kinds of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, sweets, treats, gluten-free options and… pasties. It’s a weird addition to the menu to say the least, but The Pasty Guy will never pass up a pasty.

Unfortunately, while they have gluten free desserts, they were not willing to make a gluten free pasty (contacted beforehand). In 2017, there are still only one or two places in Michigan that serve gluten free pasties.

Cakes A Bloomin’ was founded in 1974, but it’s unclear when pasties were added to the menu. Maybe they are just trying to be cool or maybe the owner really likes them. According to the site, their pasties are “baked to perfection.” I’ll be the judge of that.

Their pasty runs at a high price, similar to that of a restaurant. They have traditional, chicken and vegetarian options and the pasties are all $8 and 8 oz. That had me worried from the onset.

The crust was noticeably dry – a problem the Lower Peninsula has a problem with – and made with shortening. The inside didn’t do enough to combat the dryness with the potatoes diced into large pieces; probably the largest pieces I’ve encountered in a pasty. That left a lot of bites completely filled with potato.

Even then, the insides weren’t mixed that well, with good portions of meat clumped together in one area. Without the mixing of ingredients, that led to less flavor and more dryness in every bite. Taking a bite of a pasty and getting just potato and crust is not high on my list.

The flavor was fine when I got a good bite, but that wasn’t often. At eight ounces, I thought it looked to be a tad too small, and that was the case as one pasty wasn’t enough for my stomach.

Maybe Cakes A Bloomin’ has great cakes, but pasties are something they need to work on.

Taste: 2 (out of 5)
Crust: 2 (out of 5)
Pasty Presentation: 3 (out of 5) At least it looks like a pasty
The Shop: 2 (out of 3)
Would I come back for Pasties?: 0 (out of 2)

Total Pasty Ranking: 9 (of 20 points)

(Reviewed Summer 2017)