Snack Review: Buen Appetito Quesadilla Cheese Cake

Gas station pastries: we know ‘em, we love ‘em, and, although we know they’re not exactly good for us, when pressed for time, we often find ourselves indulging. Like cigarettes, these assorted danishes and cakes pack enough unpronounceable chemicals and preservatives to ensure us a place in the “Body Worlds” exhibit following our untimely deaths. Despite their insanely cheap prices, many of these delights manage to look beautiful. One ubiquitous brand even has a suitably upscale name to accompany its appearance: Bon Appetit.

Here in Southern California, a mere two hours from Mexico’s Baja peninsula, our convenience stores carry an ethnic variant: Buen Appetito. The pastries are FrankenFood versions of what you might expect to find at a Mexican panederia… there are conchas, tropical-fruit turnovers and corn muffins. The packages share the clear plastic and chic red-and-beige label of their French parent companies, but in place of the little parasol over “Bon Appetit,” a sultry Latina with come-hither eyes greets you from above the slightly-altered brand name. A subtle, yet clever marketing decision.

On my most recent gas station pit-stop, one of these “Mexican” treats in particular popped out at me. It’s name was what I noticed first. Designated a “Quesadilla Cheese Cake” - claiming two separate identities in the first place - the slice resembled neither. I speak only a bit of Spanish, but I think “quesadilla” means “grilled cheese sandwich” and not “slab of muffin-y cake with sesame seeds on top.” From my experience, such an item bears little resemblance to “cheese cake,” either.

Browsing the ingredients, I found “cream cheese” about halfway down, somewhere between the Polysorbate 60 and the Trisodium Citrate. If that made it a “Cheese Cake” by definition, who was I to argue? I’d just have to try it myself. I left the store and filled my tank, bringing my cake-y slab along for the ride.

After a tedious day of mini-storage facility management and two hours of commute - fueled by nothing whatsoever to eat, I was a bit famished - yet, I hesitated before biting into my “quesadilla.” This had less to do with the assorted chemicals - I’ve ingested a great deal of dyes and multianhydrotriglyciwhatevers in my day - than the droplets of grease lining the inside of the plastic wrapper, eerily suspended in a manner most foreboding. “Don’t eat us,” a chorus of high-pitched voices cried in my mind, “you’ll get even fatter!”

Doing my best to ignore the shrieking future adipose deposits, I tore open the wrapper and bit. My first impression was one of surprise at the item’s texture. From the quesadilla’s appearance, I would have expected something light and fluffy; perhaps the offspring of a muffin and a pound cake. The slab’s actual consistency was far denser than I expected - and moister. It gave the impression of real substance - yielding easily in the mouth, but lasting a while rather than disintegrating. This was a nicer textural experience than I’d had previously with Bon Appetit and its convenience store ilk.

The taste, while by no means transcendental, surpassed my expectations. Most super-cheap pastries are at most two-dimensional, battering snackers over the head with their notes of sugar and butter. This was a slightly more nuanced confection, with an obvious, mildly cheesy creaminess and a pleasant, but not overpowering sweetness. I was reminded of a slightly subtler cream cheese muffin from Otis Spunkmeyer.

Maybe it was due to my irresistible hunger, at least in part, but I quite liked this pseudo-Latin “Quesadilla/Cheese Cake.” I found myself consuming the entire thing, despite cries of protest from my already-oversize thighs. It’s not like buying a pastry fresh from your local bakery, but the next time I find myself hungry and without gas, I may just opt, once again, for something from the Buen Appetito pantry. After all, just because a pastry’s misnamed doesn’t mean it’s not tasty!

• Bon Appetit Bakery Website

7 Comments

Leave a Comment

Username (required) :
Email (required) :
Web Site :
Comment :

Comment moderation is enabled. Your comment may take some time to appear.