Our Least Favorite Store-Bought Pound Cake Is Way Too Artificial Tasting

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As its name implies, pound cake is a dense and decadent dessert worth its heavy weight. And you can pick up a store-bought variety to enjoy a slice effortlessly. Of course, not all store-bought pound cakes are worth buying. So we did a taste test of eight store-bought pound cakes, ranking them according to taste and texture.

Our least favorite store-bought pound cake is Bimbo Panqué Pound Cake. Bimbo is a Mexican-born brand with a large U.S. presence, becoming the umbrella company to other well-known bakery producers like Sara Lee and Entenmann's. While both of these brands ranked in the top 50% of competitors in our taste test, Bimbo Panqué Pound Cake came in last due to an unpleasantly artificial flavor. We tried to keep an even playing field by sampling simple vanilla pound cakes across brands, and Bimbo's Panqué Pound Cake was the least "casero," or homestyle, of the bunch. It had a cloying sweetness and a chemical flavor that dominated our taste buds and screamed "factory-made." Not only did the taste of these sad, pre-sliced poundcakes put us off, but the dry, crumbly texture just added insult to injury. There was no saving grace with Bimbo Panqué Pound Cake to pull it out of last place. While the brand offers different pound cake varieties with pecans, chocolate chips, and even raisins, no additive will make up for an artificial-tasting and dry foundation.

One-star customer reviews from Walmart customers deemed Bimbo Panqué Pound Cake "dry and bland," with one customer saying that "the cake falls apart when you pick it up," which was similar to our experience. While Bimbo may have most competitors beat in terms of price, we wouldn't even eat this sad pound cake if it were free. If you're looking for a better store-bought option, Kirkland Signature all-butter pound cake took first place. If you don't have a Costco membership, Sara Lee Classic Pound cake came in a close second.

The best option, of course, is to make pound cake from scratch. And we have a simple classic pound cake recipe with just six ingredients that will be perfectly moist, bouncy, and buttery and vanilla-forward. If you find yourself with dried-out Bimbo Panqué Pound Cake, don't throw it out. You can repurpose dried pound cake into other dessert dishes, which will help transform its artificial flavor and dried-out texture. Try soaking a slice of pound cake in a mixture of milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla extract for a sweet and creamy pound cake French toast. The cinnamon and vanilla extract will bring natural aromatic flavors to mask the artificial taste, while the milk and eggs will rehydrate a dried-out crumb. Another option is to make bread pudding out of the pound cake. Replace white bread with it in this recipe for Irish bread and butter pudding.