I tried birthday cake at 5 Columbus grocery stores. Here’s the best — and the worst
Price Check is a Ledger-Enquirer series focusing on local grocery stores to find the best trends and best values. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email Srose@ledger-enquirer.com.
Cake is a serious thing, and birthday cake is among one of the most important elements to any memorable and fun birthday. Most of us will probably buy a cake instead of baking it from scratch, and a good many of that number will often get their cake from a local grocery store.
Even a bad slice of cake is still a slice of cake, but what does one need to know when looking for the perfect cake for an occasion - whether it be a birthday, an anniversary, or just a hard Wednesday?
There are several factors that I look for in the search for the right cake at the right time, and I’ve visited five local grocery stores to judge their cake-offerings on moisture component, aesthetic appeal, cake-to-icing ratio, and flavor profile.
Unlike the fried chicken experiment, these five stores all did pretty well in the taste test. It was neck and neck, but here are the rankings for birthday cakes, on a scale from 0 to 5, from what I liked least to what I gobbled up in one sitting.
5. Fresh Market
Fresh Market doesn’t have a lot of pre-made cakes on hand, so the sample I tried was a little different than the others. Instead of a plain yellow cake with buttercream icing, like the other five stores, this slice had a confetti element to it. While this gave it an unusual texture, it was also a little harder than I’d like it to be and the icing was not offensive.
Moisture component: 2
Aesthetic appeal: 3
Cake-to-icing ratio: 2
Flavor profile: 1
4. Publix
Publix is reliably the front runner in most fresh food categories, but they only fell in the middle of the pack in this particular test. While not super detestable, their cake was only just okay, and sometimes just okay is well… just okay.
Moisture component: 3
Aesthetic appeal: 2
Cake-to-icing ratio: 4
Flavor profile: 1
3. Winn-Dixie
I broke down and bought a whole mini-cake because they didn’t offer cake by the slice. It didn’t seem necessary to have them decorate it, but it still had the classic birthday cake feel to it, and you can’t convince me that doesn’t affect the taste. So, in the interest of full disclosure, I am absolutely admitting that the aesthetics may have swayed my opinion. I’m a sucker for festive.
Moisture component: 2
Aesthetic appeal: 4
Cake-to-icing ratio: 2
Flavor profile: 2
2. Walmart
Since Walmart is more of a one-stop shop for pretty much everything, I didn’t have high hopes for the birthday cake experience, but I was pleasantly surprised. You can get any size cake, including cupcakes and by the slice, so it’s perfectly convenient.
Moisture component: 4
Aesthetic appeal: 3
Cake-to-icing ratio: 3
Flavor profile: 3
1. Piggly-Wiggly
I didn’t find a really varied selection, so I thought I was going to have to settle, but I was quickly disabused of any notions of disappointment. The Pig delivered my favorite taste (although the design was a little basic) of all five stores and I will be recommending it as my go-to celebration cake place from now on.
Moisture component: 4
Aesthetic appeal: 3
Cake-to-icing ratio: 4
Flavor profile: 5
I also have some pretty strong feelings about fried chicken, and I also did a taste test for these same grocery stores, so hop over there to see how they rank. Then go vote for your favorite barbecue restaurants to see who is the local winner.
I tried fried chicken at 5 Columbus grocery stores. Here’s the best — and the worst
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