7 Store-Bought Bakery Chocolate Cakes, Ranked

Sometimes it's worth skipping the boxed chocolate cake mix and heading straight to the bakery section at your favorite grocery store. Many stores have ready-to-eat cakes that you can easily grab from the fridge or order at the bakery counter. I visited seven different grocery chains to sample slices and full cakes to see which ones deliver indulgent, crowd-pleasing results and which are best avoided.

It's worth noting that many stores offer multiple chocolate cakes, varying in size and style — for example, some are fudge cakes or feature ganache frosting. To determine these rankings, I judged each cake on its flavor — specifically, how chocolatey it was — as well as its frosting, texture, and how fresh it tasted. I also considered whether I'd feel comfortable bringing the cake to a family or public gathering. I recommend visiting these stores earlier in the day to guarantee freshness and availability; occasionally, I had to choose a different cake than planned because I was shopping in the afternoon.  Now, let the chocolate cake taste test begin to see which brand comes out on top.

The Triple Chocolate Creme Cake from Aldi has a rich, dark coloring that gives it an invitingly fudgy appearance. This cake didn't fare too well in a ranking of Aldi baked goods, but it was worth judging it in its own category. At a glance, it looks like a decadent chocolate delight, but looks can be deceiving. Here are the positives: the cake itself is moist, there's a generous layer of frosting, and the chocolate chips on top give it an interesting texture. I assume the "triple" part of the name refers to the combination of chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and chocolate chips. But despite boasting all three, this cake doesn't actually have much flavor.

The dark chocolate chips are the best part of this cake, but even those couldn't save it from having the most lackluster taste of all the products I sampled. It smelled like cocoa but had practically no flavor whatsoever. If I'd tried a slice with my eyes closed, I don't think I'd be able to guess that it was chocolate cake without already knowing. As I said, it is ultra moist, but even that can't redeem this cake. Avoid buying this from Aldi when there are so many better options elsewhere. 

To start, the Bakery Chocolate Fudge Cake I bought in Albertons didn't look anywhere near as enticing as it did on the store's website. The frosting appears much darker and more chocolatey in the online photo, whereas the one I bought had a pale, almost reddish hue. Albertsons only had a single chocolate cake left when I arrived, and once it was all packaged and handed to me, the baker mentioned it would expire that day. If I were buying this for any other reason than this review I would have left it — who wants to eat stale cake? However, I was on a deadline and it would have to do. So, yes, the Albertsons cake was already five days old when I purchased it, which likely didn't help its chances in this ranking.

The cake itself tasted like chocolate this time, but it was very dry and crumbly — it definitely had the texture of a cake that's been sitting around for a few days. This one might have fared better if it were fresher, but it's hard to say, as the flavor wasn't particularly impressive. The frosting was thick and sweet but had a noticeably artificial taste, and while the ganache layer was an improvement, it wasn't enough to boost this cake in the rankings.

The Stater Bros. website lists a few chocolate cake options, such as fudge, buttercream, and German chocolate. I'd planned to try the basic chocolate cake slice, but when I showed the photo to the in-store baker, they said they weren't familiar with it. It would seem that not every Stater Bros. carries all of the cakes featured online; this is something to keep in mind, and you may want to call ahead if you're looking for something specific. I settled for the only other chocolate option in the display case, which was labeled something like "mini chocolate cake with curls." 

As the name suggests, this cake is covered with chocolate curls, and it has a thick, ganache-like frosting with a few raspberries scattered on top. Judging by appearance alone, I thought this looked like a very rich, high-quality cake. The cake itself was dense and crumbly, and it definitely tasted like chocolate, but the texture was slightly dry. The frosting was better than Albertsons' offering but a bit cloying, and the body wasn't as decadent as I was expecting. I can appreciate the raspberry garnishes and intricate, decorative curls, but the overly sweet frosting and dry cake keep this one firmly in fifth place. Californians may swear by Stater Bros. when it comes to buying meat, but it seems the chain's baked goods leave something to be desired.

The Bakery Fresh Chocolate Cake from Food 4 Less — a Kroger-owned grocery brand — had a pleasantly moist texture and a mild cocoa flavor, but it wasn't particularly memorable. The small, round cake is covered with a thick layer of frosting, with piped and drizzled frosting for decoration — it doesn't cover the sides, which sets this one apart from the rest of the list. That's probably for the best, because the frosting is pretty cloying, and there's already plenty piled onto this baked treat. The cake itself, while airy and moist, was quite crumbly and messy to eat, so you'll definitely want some napkins on hand while you tuck into a slice.

I preferred the ganache on the Stater Bros. cake, but the base of the Food 4 Less option was richer, giving it a slight edge in the rankings. Ultimately, it wasn't all that impressive. While I wouldn't buy this again, it was still more flavorful than any of the other options so far.  

I initially planned to try a 5-inch chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting from Walmart, but I had to alter my plans once more due to a lack of availability. I ended up going for the Chocolate Cake Square with Chocolate Icing — essentially a single serving of sheet-cake-style dessert. I finally started to see the light in terms of flavorful store-bought chocolate cakes. I wouldn't buy any of the previously mentioned cakes again, especially if I was bringing them to a gathering and hoping to impress, but this is where we finally see a turnaround. 

This is a light and fluffy cake with a rich chocolate flavor and sweet, loose, melt-in-your-mouth icing. It tastes fairly similar to something you might get from Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker cake mix. I also like the fact there's only a thin layer of frosting, which balances the flavors and allows you to appreciate the cake's chocolatiness. Truthfully, I was surprised this Walmart cake ranked as highly as third place, but it has some of the best texture, flavor, and frosting of the bunch, and I would feel comfortable sharing it if it were larger. However, while this slice is tasty — certainly better than anything else so far — it just doesn't quite compare to the last two options.  

Unfortunately, Trader Joe's doesn't sell full-sized sheet cakes, so the mini ones will have to do. This was my first time trying Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Ganache, one of the brand's several mini sheet cake options, which include Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean and Yellow Cake. These cakes are beloved by customers, and I'm a big fan of the Chantilly version, so I was excited to give this one a try. It has a cocoa-forward aroma that the flavor lives up to, and the ganache is sweet and decadent but not overpowering. 

While the flavors are quite delightful, I can't award this cake the top spot for two reasons. First, the cake-to-ganache frosting ratio is nearly 50:50. The frosting is admittedly marvelous, but it was simply too much given the amount of cake. Second, the cake was slightly dry — when I previously tried Trader Joe's Chantilly cake, it was perfectly moist, so this came as a surprise. This may have been due to a lack of freshness, but the best-by date was still four days out from the date of purchase. Unfortunately, it was the last Dark Chocolate Ganache cake left on the shelves, so I wasn't able to compare it with a fresher one. This cake was still impressive, but the next one blew me away from the first bite.

Wow — what a cake! Costco's Chocolate Fudge Cake is above and beyond anything else on this list. Every aspect of it is a scrumptious delight. It's rich, heavy, and moist, and the frosting is finger-licking good. The frosting is still pretty sweet, but it's layered throughout the cake and appropriately proportioned, so it doesn't taste cloying. This one has the pronounced cocoa notes I've been looking for, and the fudge enhances both the flavor and texture of the cake.

Once again, I bought the last chocolate cake left in the display case, but I couldn't actually find it listed on the Costco website. It's huge and fairly heavy, so considering the excellent quality, you've got what's easily the best value cake on this list. You'd definitely be popular if you brought this to a potluck, and thanks to the no-frills design, you could even pass it off as homemade. A word of warning: Don't confuse this baked treat with Costco's Chocolate Cake Filled with Chocolate Mousse, which placed last in Tasting Table's ranking of popular Costco cakes.

The most important factors I considered when judging these cakes were the flavor of the cake itself and the frosting; I was looking for a rich chocolate taste and balanced sweetness. The texture of the cake was also key, favoring a moist texture over a dry, brittle crumb. For some of these cakes, freshness was the deciding factor. Cakes aren't always eaten immediately, and the quality shouldn't drop significantly within a few days of baking. I purchased the first batch of cakes in a single day, sampled them, and took notes and photos, then purchased the second batch on another day, following the same process. I determined freshness using the best-by date on the packaging. I also considered how confident I would feel bringing each cake to a public gathering, like a birthday party or a potluck. While I have commented on the appearance of the cakes listed above, it didn't play a part in the overall ranking.