Baking cheesecake at home takes more than a lot of cream cheese. Cheesecake is a project recipe that requires making the crust, filling and mixing, careful baking and controlled cooling. The good news is that cheesecake is a rare dessert that freezes beautifully. While we’d love to pull a perfectly preserved homemade cheesecake out of the freezer whenever company comes over, we don’t always have time. And this is where the grocery store comes to the rescue.
On the shelves among the puff pastry and ice cream are cheesecakes in various styles and serving sizes. So many options! Which should you buy? I held a little taste test to find out.
For this test, I chose classic or New York cheesecakes, and left the chocolate and cherry-topped ones for another time. I gathered a group of totally smitten friends for a blind taste test, and we found two store-bought cheesecakes that fooled the tasters into believing they were homemade (plus one great option for people who want cheesecake but find it a bit heavy too) .
The cheesecake that fooled us all: Costco
My taste testers were convinced I had hidden a homemade cheesecake among the store-bought samples when they tried this one. Costco’s cheesecake is luxuriously rich, perfectly smooth, and topped with a thick and tangy sour cream topping. The perfectly proportioned crust, with its brown sugar and bean flavor, remained crisp. The only drawback is the size. With a diameter of 12 inches and a serving size of 16, this cheesecake is perfect for entertaining. Not in the mood to share? Remember that the freezer is a cheesecake’s best friend, so cut the cake into quarters or individual slices and freeze for easy serving.
Find it in stores: Costco Cheesecake, $13.99 for 4.5 pounds at Costco
Small-scale perfection: Trader Joe’s
Nobody does freezer meals like Trader Joe’s. The sweet, vanilla flavor of this baked cheesecake stood out more than the smell of cream cheese. A rich, dense filling sits on a sweet and buttery crust that is crispy and holds its shape even when cut. I would never have guessed that this cheesecake came from a grocery store. This is a great option if the Costco cheesecake size is too big for your needs.
Find it in stores: Trader Joe’s New York Deli Style Baked Cheesecake, $6.99 for 30 ounces at Trader Joe’s
Cheesecake for non-cheesecake lovers: Edwards
No matter how you slice it, this cheesecake is definitely drinkable. You can find Edward’s sweets in the freezer aisle of almost every store you enter. This option is for people who are not quite ready for the intense luxury of a real cheesecake. Let’s call it cheesecake-light. The mousse-like filling is topped with star whipped cream in a soft cookie crust. This cheesecake won’t fool anyone into thinking it’s homemade, but it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Buy: Edwards Frozen Original Whipped Cheesecake, $9.29 for 24 ounces at Target
What’s your favorite grocery store pie? Share your picks in the comments.
This post was originally published on The Kitchen. See it there: 3 store-bought cheesecakes that are (almost) better than homemade