I compared canvass cakes from Publix, Kroger, and Food Panthera leo, and my favorite choice had impressive frosting and texture

Sheet cake comparison

Publix's block (higher up) has a cultlike post-obit, but it wasn't my personal favorite.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider
  • Supermarket sheet cakes are a go-to treat for endless 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 delicious, and I'd buy them for my next party.

If yous've ever spent fourth dimension browsing the bakery department at a supermarket, you've probable laid optics on the coveted sheet cake.

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

I've personally come up to know sheet cakes as a cardinal component of whatever big celebration, and it'southward common for supermarkets to accept them on display for purchase.

On a recent route trip through Southward Carolina and Georgia, I decided to compare and rank the sheet cakes from iii stores in the region.

Slices of block from Publix, Food King of beasts, and Kroger.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

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

While leaving Charleston, I stopped at Food Panthera leo. And so on my fashion out of Savannah, I fabricated a pit stop at Kroger before heading to my final destination, where I fabricated a late-night Publix run.

Each cake was available with no prior ordering needed.

Food Lion's sheet block placed third in my ranking.

A yellow canvass cake with white icing from Food King of beasts in Charleston, South Carolina.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

When I was shopping at Food Lion, I asked whether I could buy a slice of their bones sheet cake or a smaller version. But that wasn't an option, so instead I went with this party-sized dessert. At the Charleston location I visited, information technology price me $twenty.

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

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

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

This was a single-layer cake, and the icing was more than grainy than shine, which is why I thought information technology roughshod below the other two in the ranking.

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

When I took a seize with teeth of this bakery-department treat, the first thing I noticed was the frosting. It was crystallized in texture, which meant I could feel all the little sugary bits on my tongue — it wasn't a pleasant feel, in my opinion.

The frosting was lacking in flavor, and I really thought it had a chemical taste rather than something natural or sweet, like vanilla. (As a annotation, I don't know what ingredients the store uses to make its frosting.)

Later on biting into the blue frosting, my entire oral cavity was coated the same color, including my tongue, lips, and teeth.

The cake was a cute yellow color with a very thin dark-dark-brown layer effectually the bottom. If you've ever broiled a block earlier, you lot know that'due south ordinarily what happens when the batter touches the pan.

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

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

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

My miniature sheet block from Publix.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

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

I was able to observe a small, round version of this cake at the Atlanta Publix I visited, and it cost me $eleven.49. (Still, I couldn't finish information technology myself, so later cutting a large slice, I shared the rest with hotel staff.)

While information technology was smaller than the Food King of beasts cake, it had more decorations. There were three puffy balloons made of the aforementioned buttercream that covered the entire block. It also featured colorful flat sprinkles on meridian.

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

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

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

When I cutting into this cake, I saw a four-layered yellow cake with three interior layers of buttercream. The block was moist and held together while I picked upwardly the full piece equally ane slice.

The first bite showed me why anybody loves this treat for special occasions. It tasted sweetness in a natural mode and had what I would call a medium density — it wasn't too heavy and rich, but it didn't autumn apart from being too airy. The flavor of the yellow layers was mildly sugariness and rich with butter. If someone offered me a piece, I would definitely be excited.

But I thought information technology smelled kind of strange when I first took the chapeau off. After tasting the buttercream frosting on its ain, I noticed that information technology had a lovely silky, calorie-free, whipped texture, but I didn't remember it tasted like frosting at all. Information technology tasted artificial, but non in the same sugary way as the Food Lion frosting.

Every bit I expected, the cherry-red balloon on superlative of the cake dyed my mouth the same fashion the blue coloring on the Food Lion cake had. But that'southward just part of the fun of eating food coloring.

While the frosting wasn't my favorite, it did taste better when I ate it in conjunction with the cake layers. Simply since I'm someone who enjoys scooping frosting with my pinky finger and eating it on its own, I don't think I would request this cake at my altogether party.

Tied for start place, and my taste buds' No. 1 choice, was the block from Kroger.

The bones canvas cake at Kroger, co-ordinate to bakery employees.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

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

In terms of decoration, this was somewhere betwixt the plain cake from Food Lion and the airship-topped one from Publix.

The frosting was white, and at that place was blue pipage around the bottom, but there were also large light- and dark-blue dollops around the top. The top looked like it had been airbrushed with light blue food coloring and then dotted with diverse shapes of sprinkles.

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

I loved how fresh this tasted.
Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Again, the olfactory property of icing and sprinkles hit my olfactory organ when I took the chapeau off of this canvas cake. It was the only one of the iii sold frozen, so I had to wait for it to defrost fully before I could dive in.

One time I was finally able to gustation it, I found it consisted of ii layers of spongy xanthous block with white icing in between. The interior icing felt lighter and more than whipped than the outer layer, but I doubtable 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 calorie-free-blueish and white dollops on top of the cake. It took two bites of the dark-blue topping for my entire mouth to plow the same color.

The cake itself reminded me of a classic yellow sponge cake: It was slightly sweet only mostly plain. Though the layers were bright yellow, they also sported a thin layer of brown, which I e'er appreciate.

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

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