I compared canvas cakes from Publix, Kroger, and Nutrient Lion, and my favorite pick had impressive frosting and texture

Sheet cake comparison

Publix's cake (above) has a cultlike post-obit, only it wasn't my personal favorite.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider
  • Supermarket canvass cakes are a go-to treat for countless celebrations.
  • On a recent road trip, I compared yellow cakes with vanilla icing from Publix, Kroger, and Nutrient Lion.
  • I thought the cakes from Publix and Kroger were succulent, and I'd buy them for my adjacent party.

If you've ever spent fourth dimension browsing the bakery section at a supermarket, you lot've likely laid eyes on the coveted sheet cake.

The bakery section at a Publix in Atlanta.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

I've personally come to know sheet cakes every bit a key component of whatsoever large celebration, and it's common for supermarkets to take them on display for purchase.

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

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

I drove from Charleston, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, and ended my trip in Atlanta.

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

Each cake was available with no prior ordering needed.

Food Lion's sheet cake placed tertiary in my ranking.

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

When I was shopping at Food King of beasts, I asked whether I could buy a piece of their basic sheet cake or a smaller version. Just that wasn't an option, and then instead I went with this party-sized dessert. At the Charleston location I visited, it cost me $20.

Since I couldn't swallow the entire thing past myself, I cut ane slice and gave the residue to the employees at a eating house adjacent door.

As soon as I took the lid off this cake, I was hit with a chemic-like sweet smell.

This rectangle cake was minimally busy — which was totally fine, in my opinion — with white icing, ribbons of blue icing, some blue and white sprinkles, and a faux blossom dotting each corner.

This was a single-layer block, and the icing was more than grainy than smoothen, which is why I thought it fell beneath the other two in the ranking.

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

When I took a bite of this bakery-department treat, the offset thing I noticed was the frosting. It was crystallized in texture, which meant I could experience all the little sugary $.25 on my tongue — it wasn't a pleasant feel, in my opinion.

The frosting was lacking in flavor, and I actually thought it had a chemical sense of taste rather than something natural or sugariness, similar vanilla. (Every bit a note, I don't know what ingredients the store uses to brand its frosting.)

Subsequently biting into the blue frosting, my entire mouth was coated the same colour, including my tongue, lips, and teeth.

The block was a cute yellow color with a very thin dark-brown layer around the bottom. If you've always baked a cake before, y'all know that's normally what happens when the batter touches the pan.

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

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

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

My miniature canvas block from Publix.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

I've always heard of the fanfare around a Publix sheet cake. Strangers and friends accept all confessed their beloved for this block 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 it cost me $eleven.49. (Still, I couldn't stop it myself, and then afterward cutting a large piece, I shared the rest with hotel staff.)

While it was smaller than the Food Lion cake, information technology had more decorations. There were three puffy balloons fabricated of the same buttercream that covered the unabridged cake. Information technology also featured colorful apartment sprinkles on summit.

I can sympathize the hype, simply if I were picking a cake for myself, I'd cull i with frosting more enjoyable to my gustation.

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

Customers have a strong connection to the fluffy icing and fresh-tasting cake from Publix, and I tin totally run across why.

When I cutting into this cake, I saw a four-layered yellow cake with iii interior layers of buttercream. The block was moist and held together while I picked upward the total slice as one piece.

The kickoff seize with teeth showed me why everyone loves this treat for special occasions. It tasted sweetness in a natural mode and had what I would call a medium density — information technology wasn't too heavy and rich, merely information technology didn't fall apart from being too blusterous. The flavor of the yellow layers was mildly sweetness and rich with butter. If someone offered me a piece, I would definitely be excited.

But I thought it smelled kind of strange when I showtime took the lid off. Afterward tasting the buttercream frosting on its ain, I noticed that it had a lovely silky, light, whipped texture, simply I didn't think it tasted like frosting at all. It tasted artificial, but not in the aforementioned sugary way as the Nutrient Lion frosting.

As I expected, the ruddy balloon on top of the cake dyed my mouth the aforementioned fashion the blue coloring on the Food Lion block had. Merely that'south but part of the fun of eating food coloring.

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

Tied for kickoff identify, and my gustation buds' No. 1 pick, was the cake from Kroger.

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

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

In terms of decoration, this was somewhere between the plain cake from Food Lion and the balloon-topped ane from Publix.

The frosting was white, and there was blue piping around the bottom, but there were also big calorie-free- and dark-bluish dollops around the top. The top looked like information technology had been airbrushed with calorie-free blue food coloring and and then dotted with various shapes of sprinkles.

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

I loved how fresh this tasted.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Again, the smell of icing and sprinkles hit my nose when I took the chapeau off of this sheet cake. It was the only 1 of the iii sold frozen, then I had to wait for it to defrost fully before I could dive in.

Once I was finally able to gustatory modality information technology, I found information technology consisted of ii layers of spongy yellow cake with white icing in between. The interior icing felt lighter and more than whipped than the outer layer, but I suspect that's due to the moisture inside rather than information technology being a dissimilar recipe.

I noticed the dark-blue frosting was lighter and more whipped in texture than the lite-blue and white dollops on top of the cake. It took ii bites of the dark-bluish topping for my entire mouth to turn the same colour.

The cake itself reminded me of a classic xanthous sponge cake: It was slightly sugariness but mostly apparently. Though the layers were bright yellow, they as well sported a thin layer of brown, which I always appreciate.

Between the deliciously sweet frosting and the moist and flavorful cake, this Kroger dessert would be my own choice for celebrations. But when it's betwixt Publix'south and Kroger's offerings, I remember it actually comes down to personal preference.

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