The Absolute Best Store-Bought Frozen Cake Isn't Chocolate Or Vanilla

Store-bought desserts can make your life a whole lot easier. There's no prepping buttercream or mixing cake batters to create the perfect, show-stopping dessert for a special occasion. Frozen cakes, which can be found among frozen cheesecakes and ice cream cakes at your local grocery store, are a great place to start. In a review of some of the best and most widely available frozen store-bought cakes, Tasting Table ranked Pepperidge Farm's coconut layer cake as the best.

This cake, which serves eight, is conveniently packaged in a box and comes ready to serve. It offers three layers of soft vanilla sponge, which does not have a particularly sweet flavor to it, along with a decadent frosting and coconut shavings on the outside. Compared to other cakes that were reviewed, the flavor of this coconut layer cake was far more balanced in terms of sweetness. Plus, we found it didn't have the artificial coconut flavor profile that other coconut desserts tend to have. While other desserts we sampled had structural and flavor issues, the Pepperidge coconut layer cake reigned supreme.

Despite our favorable experience with this cake brand, folks who purchased this cake from vendors like Walmart shared mixed reviews of the product. While several folks remark that this cake is rather moist and delicious, with the perfect balance of sweet icing and coconut, others shared that this was far from the cake that they remembered. Some negative reviews highlight a plasticky flavor while others relate the smell and taste to coconut-scented sunscreen. 

If you find this cake not to be to your liking, there are always ways to upgrade its flavor and squash any trace of artificial coconut. For one, you could serve this cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream; this would mellow out the tropical flavors and make it lean more vanilla. Or, if you're a person who loves all things tropical, you may consider making a coconut-infused whipped cream to dollop on top. While we thought this cake was perfect as-is, you can also utilize it as a blank canvas for culinary exploration and add your own creative spin to it.