Costco Connection

are, of course, more special-order decorating choices.) Special-order forms, design samples and a drop-off box are located at each bakery’s sheet cake kiosk.

Sheet cake choices are white or chocolate cake, white or chocolate filling, icing and a large selection of handcrafted designs. You can also order sheet cakes pre-scored into 48 equal portions.

More eye-popping, kid-oriented decorations in a kaleidoscope of colors were recently added. I particularly like the lovable dinosaur. The most popular choices are roses, balloons, rainbow and smiling sun.

Costco pastry chef and assistant general merchandise manager of Costco bakeries Jean-Yves Mocquet says of the decorations, “It’s an art to decorate a cake with the right proportion, placement and depth. This is our signature, and I have no doubt we are the best.”

Hand-decorating experts such as Alice Roundy (left) can create individual designs and detailed decorations, such as school colors (below).

Cake comparison

Costco Retailer A Retailer B Halfsheet Decorated Decorated Decorated Price $17.99 $24.99 $17.58

Unit weight lb. 9. 5 8 6.625

Unit weight oz. 152 128 106

Per lb. $1.89 $3.12 $2.65

Per oz. $0.12 $0.20 $0.17

Filled Filled No filling

Price comparisons made on 2/28/11 in Issaquah and Renton, Washington.

Cake walk

As for the three Kirkland Signature cakes
crafted as 10-inch rounds, Costco bakery buyer
Melanie Silva uses descriptive phrases such as
“dreamy cream cheese,” “traditional baking spices”
and “profound chocolate.”
The traditional red velvet cake is indeed dreamy,
with its dramatic bright-red-tinted cake (three parts
white and one part chocolate batter) set against
sharply contrasting vanilla cheesecake mousse fill-
ing and cream cheese icing.

A flavorful feast unto itself, the carrot walnut cake is made with carrots, raisins and spices, apricot preserve–cream cheese filling, heady cream cheese icing and carrot-cake crumbs.

And the 7-pound All-American chocolate cake (the best covert late-night snack ever created) is loaded with rich chocolate fudge icing sandwiched between four layers of chocolate cake, topped with fudge icing and an added flourish of chocolate shavings.

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thought to be harmful to the heart, with studies showing trans fats raise “bad” (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and lower “good” (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.

Sue shares, “Exchanging hydrogenated oil for more natural nonhydrogenated oil blends was a monumental task. All recipes were redeveloped from scratch. There was no rest until we got it right.” Ingredient labels are being updated as they complete the transition. Meanwhile, you can have nutritional questions answered by calling Costco Membership Services at 1-800-774-2678.

Icing on
the cake
Torte reform

While I’m a stickler for leaving heirloom recipes as is, there’s one change I heartily welcome. Costco has removed hydrogenated oils from all Kirkland Signature bakery baked goods, including cakes.

Part of the trans fats group, hydrogenated oils are

Seasonal cake additions

Costco bakeries in the U.S. and elsewhere employ 1,965 bakers and 1,186 cake decorators working a total of 1,062 ovens. Wanting to expand selections but needing more ovens, the department recently partnered with select non-Costco bakeries for a limited collection of high-end Kirkland Signature cakes.

Sue quickly points out, “Rest assured, the hand-
crafted baking standards members expect and
Kirkland Signature demands are required of these
cakes too. The recipes are ours and the cakes are
fresh, with final inspections and finishings handled
in our bakeries.”
Look for strawberry peanut butter mousse cake,
chocolate tuxedo mousse cake with chunks of brown-
ies, and caramel mousse cake (European-style sponge
cake topped with caramel-flavored mousse and filled
with Bavarian cream—available this summer).

Cake dough

I shop around for a wedding cake to serve 144 guests. A nearby national grocery charges $24.99 per filled wedding-themed sheet cake, but the cake is not nearly as tall as Costco’s, is shipped frozen and serves only 30 people, so you would need five cakes totaling $124.95 (that’s about 83 cents per serving). Three fresh Kirkland Signature wedding-themed sheet cakes with filling ($17.99 each), the number required for 144 servings, total a mere $53.79, or 37 cents per slice.

Remember, Kirkland Signature cakes are perishable. They can be refrigerated up to five days, or frozen and then thawed in a refrigerator 24 hours before serving.

Sturdily packaged, easily portable, ready-to-serve, stress-free Kirkland Signature cakes offer exceptional taste and value. I’d say the celebrating is already on the rise. C

I ASKED COSTCO’S bakery pros what members might not know about Kirkland Signature cakes, but should.

• Each bakery confirms the graduation dates and school colors of nearby high schools and colleges, and is ready for last-minute requests.

• Members can bring in a color swatch and the bakery will try to match it in icing decorations.

•Samples of icings and fillings are offered.

• Seasonal designs are available year-round. (Anyone for a Christmas-in-July picnic?)

• Free personalization is possible on round cakes, as long as there is room.

• On the 2011 graduation cakes, the graduation cap design will be made of Belgian chocolate.

• You can request only part of a decoration or modify designs (such as switching five balloons to three for a child’s third birthday).

• Candy confetti can be
added for no additional charge.

•It’s fine to add other Kirkland Signature bakery items to your special-order cake request.

• Don’t need cake but wish to special-order five or more of any Kirkland Signature bakery items? Write your request on the bottom of a special-order sheet cake form and personally discuss it with a baker.—PV