I compared sheet cakes from Publix, Kroger, and Food King of beasts, and my favorite pick had impressive frosting and texture

Sheet cake comparison

Publix'south block (above) has a cultlike post-obit, but it wasn't my personal favorite.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider
  • Supermarket sheet cakes are a go-to treat for countless celebrations.
  • On a contempo route trip, I compared yellow cakes with vanilla icing from Publix, Kroger, and Nutrient King of beasts.
  • I thought the cakes from Publix and Kroger were succulent, and I'd buy them for my next party.

If you've ever spent time browsing the bakery section at a supermarket, you've probable laid eyes on the coveted sheet block.

The baker section at a Publix in Atlanta.
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I've personally come to know sheet cakes as a key component of any large celebration, and it's common for supermarkets to accept them on display for buy.

On a recent road trip through South Carolina and Georgia, I decided to compare and rank the sheet cakes from three stores in the region.

Slices of cake from Publix, Food Lion, and Kroger.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

I collection from Charleston, S Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, and concluded my trip in Atlanta.

While leaving Charleston, I stopped at Food King of beasts. Then on my way out of Savannah, I made a pit stop at Kroger before heading to my concluding destination, where I made a tardily-night Publix run.

Each cake was available with no prior ordering needed.

Food King of beasts's sail cake placed third in my ranking.

A yellow canvas cake with white icing from Nutrient Lion in Charleston, Due south Carolina.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

When I was shopping at Nutrient Lion, I asked whether I could buy a slice of their basic canvas cake or a smaller version. Only that wasn't an option, so instead I went with this party-sized dessert. At the Charleston location I visited, it toll me $20.

Since I couldn't eat the entire thing by myself, I cut one piece and gave the rest to the employees at a eating place next door.

As before long as I took the lid off this cake, I was hit with a chemical-similar sweet scent.

This rectangle block was minimally decorated — which was totally fine, in my opinion — with white icing, ribbons of blue icing, some blue and white sprinkles, and a fake flower dotting each corner.

This was a unmarried-layer block, and the icing was more grainy than smooth, which is why I thought it fell below the other ii in the ranking.

I was the least impressed with this block.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

When I took a seize with teeth of this baker-section treat, the commencement thing I noticed was the frosting. It was crystallized in texture, which meant I could feel all the little sugary $.25 on my tongue — it wasn't a pleasant experience, in my opinion.

The frosting was lacking in season, and I actually thought it had a chemic sense of taste rather than something natural or sweet, like vanilla. (Every bit a note, I don't know what ingredients the store uses to make its frosting.)

Later bitter into the blueish frosting, my unabridged oral cavity was coated the aforementioned colour, including my tongue, lips, and teeth.

The cake was a beautiful yellow color with a very thin dark-chocolate-brown layer effectually the bottom. If you've always baked a cake before, you know that's usually what happens when the batter touches the pan.

The cake was sugariness, moderately moist, and had more than of a crumbly texture than that of a sponge cake.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with this one. I wouldn't choose it for a celebration if I had access to other options.

The Publix sheet cake tied for kickoff place, though it wasn't my personal favorite.

My miniature sheet cake from Publix.
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I've always heard of the fanfare around a Publix canvass cake. Strangers and friends have all confessed their love for this cake to me in person or through messages on social media.

I was able to find a small, round version of this cake at the Atlanta Publix I visited, and information technology cost me $11.49. (Still, I couldn't stop it myself, and then afterwards cutting a large slice, I shared the residue with hotel staff.)

While it was smaller than the Food Lion block, it had more decorations. There were three puffy balloons made of the same buttercream that covered the entire block. Information technology also featured colorful apartment sprinkles on superlative.

I can sympathize the hype, but if I were picking a cake for myself, I'd choose one with frosting more than enjoyable to my taste.

I wasn't a fan of the Publix frosting on its own.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Customers take a strong connection to the fluffy icing and fresh-tasting cake from Publix, and I can totally see why.

When I cut into this cake, I saw a four-layered yellow cake with three interior layers of buttercream. The cake was moist and held together while I picked up the full slice as one slice.

The offset bite showed me why everyone loves this treat for special occasions. Information technology tasted sweetness in a natural way and had what I would phone call a medium density — information technology wasn't also heavy and rich, simply it didn't fall apart from being also airy. The season of the yellow layers was mildly sweet and rich with butter. If someone offered me a slice, I would definitely exist excited.

Merely I thought it smelled kind of foreign when I first took the lid off. After tasting the buttercream frosting on its own, I noticed that it had a lovely silky, light, whipped texture, but I didn't call back information technology tasted similar frosting at all. Information technology tasted artificial, but not in the same sugary way as the Nutrient King of beasts frosting.

Equally I expected, the red balloon on top of the cake dyed my mouth the same mode the bluish coloring on the Nutrient Lion block had. But that's just office of the fun of eating food coloring.

While the frosting wasn't my favorite, it did taste improve when I ate it in conjunction with the cake layers. But since I'm someone who enjoys scooping frosting with my pinky finger and eating it on its ain, I don't recall I would asking this block at my birthday party.

Tied for first identify, and my taste buds' No. 1 option, was the cake from Kroger.

The basic sheet cake at Kroger, according to bakery employees.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Unfortunately, I struck out over again when it came to finding a miniature sheet cake at the Savannah Kroger I visited — so the majority of this $21 dessert also went to grateful hotel staff.

In terms of decoration, this was somewhere between the plainly cake from Food King of beasts and the balloon-topped one from Publix.

The frosting was white, and there was bluish piping around the lesser, simply in that location were too large lite- and night-blueish dollops around the top. The pinnacle looked like it had been airbrushed with light blueish food coloring and then dotted with various shapes of sprinkles.

Density and flavour made this block my personal favorite, though I think it'south equally as skillful as Publix's on a technical level.

I loved how fresh this tasted.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Again, the smell of icing and sprinkles striking my nose when I took the lid off of this sail cake. It was the only one of the three sold frozen, so I had to look for it to defrost fully before I could dive in.

Once I was finally able to taste information technology, I found information technology consisted of 2 layers of spongy yellow cake with white icing in betwixt. The interior icing felt lighter and more whipped than the outer layer, but I suspect that's due to the wet within rather than it beingness a different recipe.

I noticed the dark-blueish frosting was lighter and more whipped in texture than the lite-bluish and white dollops on top of the block. It took two bites of the dark-blue topping for my unabridged oral cavity to turn the aforementioned colour.

The cake itself reminded me of a classic yellow sponge cake: It was slightly sweet but mostly manifestly. Though the layers were bright yellow, they also sported a thin layer of brownish, which I ever capeesh.

Betwixt the deliciously sweet frosting and the moist and flavorful cake, this Kroger dessert would exist my own pick for celebrations. Simply when it's between Publix's and Kroger's offerings, I think it really comes down to personal preference.

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