Layered with cinnamon and filled with blueberries. We tried king cake at Gulfport pop-up
Robert St. John and his staff brought their king cake pop-up to downtown Gulfport on Friday, where 150 cakes sold out in 35 minutes.
For most of those who waited in line, it was their first taste of a Loblolly Bakery king cake, created after St. John sampled 32 cakes from bakeries in New Orleans.
“Thank you all for being here,” St. John called out as he wandered up and down the line, stopping to talk to people he knew or who just wanted to chat and thank him for bringing his king cake and his new restaurant to Gulfport.
When the line had dwindled, we were able to buy one of the two king cakes still available, as others headed our way.
Cinnamon was checked on the box.
“The king cake was soooo good,” said Sun Herald photographer Hannah Ruhoff, after sampling a slice when she returned to her office.
“I liked that the cake wasn’t over complicated,” Ruhoff said. “The frosting tasted great and there wasn’t too much of it. The cake itself was tasty and not too sweet or too cinnamon-y. Loblolly seems to have just focused on great taste, not bells and whistles.”
The cake made my car smell so good, it was hard to resist until I got to my destination.
The first piece I ate was so amazing, it took a sliver more before I was able to adequately describe it.
The cakes are pretty — swagged with colorful Mardi Gras beads and coins, and sprinkled with sugar that is a more pastel version of the traditional green, purple and gold — with a baby cradled on top. The icing is just right.
Then bite into layers of pastry, with a generous topping of whipped icing, a layer of cinnamon and just the right level of sweetness.
Online comments and a group called King Cake Mafia, which has reviewed a lot of cakes on the Coast and beyond, agreed with us.
“They reviewed us and we got 10 out of 10,” he said, which is their highest ranking.
St. John’s King Cake pop-up has traveled the Pine Belt with its cakes named after the Loblolly pines, stopping in Laurel, Meridian, Collins and other cities.
Another pop-up is due in Gulfport in two weeks, on Feb. 21.
This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
