A Cake Lover’s Guide to the Best Grocery Store Cakes In Amherst, MA
Put a finger down if you’re a college student on a budget and want to buy a reasonably priced cake, or are a person that loves the artificial taste of store-bought that fancy or independent bakeries do not have; Or believe that we don’t need an occasion to consume (maybe even a whole) birthday cake? *just put all my fingers down* That’s how much I love cake. Even my Instagram bio has been “Only love cake” for five years now, and the possibility of tattoos has entered the conversation.
For a girl who’s obsessed with cake and who spent the majority of her time during undergrad at UMass, it’s safe to say I’ve come up with a foolproof guide on what to expect from the most popular grocery/convenience stores that sell birthday cakes in Amherst, MA.
To make my judgment fair, and consistent, I decided to taste test a classic flavor, that if not all, many use as a base for their other cakes- A vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. Additionally we have four strong contenders- Whole Foods (my personal favorite,) and Stop & Shop being two of the most popular American chains, Big Y- native to CT and MA residents, and finally Atkins Farm- a locals favorite in Amherst!
For a summary of the results scroll to the bottom of this page!
BIG Y
Price:$15.99 Size:30oz
If a cake could look chuegy (and I mean this in the most respectful way,) this was it! It was giving 2010s, minimalist naked cakes that were only frosted on the top of the cake. They did, however, not fall in short of enough frosting, which I think is great, considering it looked like it could lack a whole lot of frosting. The cake consisted of a vanilla sponge, a thin layer of strawberry preserve, which barely made a difference in my opinion, some classic buttercream, and three glazed strawberries as a garnish that wasn’t even crisp or fresh like they should've been, instead, it was slightly mushy and soft. The sponge on its own was good; each layer was divided by about three-quarters of an inch, which meant the ratio of cake to that of the buttercream was perfect with every bite you took. I liked that the cake wasn’t too sweet since it was complimented with the slightly tarte preserve and the sweet icing. The buttercream in terms of taste, was really good; not too buttery or sugary, but the consistency was a tad bit runnier than usual frostings.
European Layered Cake was the closest thing I could to a vanilla cakeHowever, I did notice that the last three layers of the cake weren’t fully cooked, I could taste a little bit of the raw flour and it was overly drenched in simple syrup, which probably means I wasn’t given the freshest batch. I think appearance-wise it looked neat and elegant for a cake that was made at a grocery store. Overall, I think it was a good cake. I asked my friends to try it and they also thought it didn’t taste like the typical cake you’d buy at a grocery store, in terms of how it did not taste very artificial.
ATKINS FARM
Price:$12.99 Size:35oz
This single layer cake reminded me of something you’d see in bakeries from the early 90’s. A very simple, elegant cake with a blue rose in the middle. It looks vintage because of how the rose was pipped, the bright blue color, and the aesthetic of that cake makes you feel very nostalgic! Now I’m not the girl that’s usually satisfied with just one bite of the cake, or even a slice! I need at least three slices, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I had just one bite of this cake to know I’d never buy it again. It was dry and the ratio of the frosting to the cake was so little. It was a 7- inch round cake, assembled in a 2-inch layer. I think it’s a crime to sell a cake with not enough frosting and especially with a dry spounge.
Moving on to taste, I expected a lot from it since it was from a very reputed, independent, local grocery store. Everyone raves about Atkin Farms’ produce and pies, so I obviously thought they’d make immaculate cakes. It was the prettiest grocery stores I’d ever been to in Amherst which only increased my expectations and it was the most anticipated I had been for cake in a long time. My excitement to try this cake was only met with sheer disappointment.
I thought I asked for a vanilla on vanilla, but I could only taste almonds, burnt, stale almonds to be specific. Now I love macaroons, and munchies with almonds, but I hate almond extract and I feel like the bakers at Atkins farm poured a whole bottle instead of a few teaspoons of it in the cake and the frosting. If you like almond flavored desserts and cake, you’d probably like this but would not appreciate the texture of the sponge, or how little frosting there was with every slice. This was my least favorite of all the ones I tried.
WHOLE FOODS
Price:$23.00. Size:17.5oz
Image: Buzzfeed; The cake was so good that taking a picture of it was the las thing in my mind, and before you know it my friends didnt even leave a crumb. The next closest thing to vanilla that Whole Foods carried was this Berry Chantilly cake and it was most certainly an upgrade. I absolutely loved this cake. The sponge was spot on! It was soft, moist enough, and carried the perfect amount of sweetness that balanced out with the chantilly cream. I also loved the little touch of tartness from the berries that helps balance the sweetness and richness from the cream! I feel like you can never go wrong with this combination. It was quite pretty too, Again, simple yet, elegant. with three layers of cake a good amount of cream and kudos for being generous with the berries. It’s the kind of cake you could eat all by yourself in 15 minutes because of how every component of the cake was light!
I was with friends when we ate this cake and, every single one of them raved about it. However, the only set back from this cake was the price point! For the portion it was sold for, I really do not think it was worth it. The whole point of this was to be from a grocery store, was that it could have been something reasonable and something everyone can afford. In addition to that, I think it was missing the main flavor I was looking for- a hint of artificial tasting vanilla.
STOP & SHOP
Price:$6.99. Size:10oz
Golden Vanilla (Excuse this poorly sliced cake)This is number one on my list, it hit all the right spots! The price was perfect, the ratio of the cake to cream was perfect, the sponge and the frosting too! I cut a slice to take a bite, and it cut like butter. It was airy and lite; you could eat one bite and the cake would melt in your mouth. Other than the basic vanilla taste, I could sense a little tang that you often find from cream cheese. It was probably the frosting. The frosting was pretty good too; it was soft and had the artificial vanilla flavor.
If there was one thing, I did not really like about this, it was probably going to be the sweetness. It wasn’t bad so to speak, it was just a tad bit overpowering in the sense that a big slice would leave you with wanting to eat something salty later. I love the presentation. It looked like a mini birthday cake with the simple patterns and confetti. It was festive compared to the other ones. This is the kind of decoration you’d see from typical Costco and grocery store cakes; something I personally love.