The Supermarket Cake Ordering Hack To Avoid Oversweet Buttercream

You've seen them before at almost every supermarket you go. In the bakery aisle, stacked up next to the loaves of bread are the cakes. Built on the promise of being a convenient and easy dessert for any type of celebration, these cakes promise to be moist, fluffy, and sweet — just like the ones you make from scratch in your kitchen.

But while the promise of a fully-baked and frosted cake that requires you only to pick it up at the store may sound tempting, purchasing the best supermarket cake requires a bit of skill. Not all cakes are created equal, after all. There are many steps towards finding out which cake is the best, ranging from location to appearance to price. You may, for example, find that a cake that may be cheaper at one store may not look as good as one that's more expensive at another store. A cake at Safeway may be hailed as a more appealing item based on price, but others may attest that a cake purchased from Costco would be a much more high-quality cake for your money. 

One common flaw you may have to look out for when choosing a supermarket cake is that it may be too sweet. This is mainly because of the buttercream frosting, which adds a very powerful vanilla or sugary flavor to your cake, which may stand out against more decadent cakes like chocolate or lemon. Fortunately, all you have to do is simply ask for a substitution.

Whether it's pink, white, yellow, blue, or red, buttercream frosting is present on a majority of all manner of supermarket cakes. While some people may enjoy the sweet taste of buttercream frosting on their birthday cake, you may find the sweetness to be too overpowering. If this applies to you, all you have to do is go up to the counter and request whipped cream on your cake instead of the usual frosting.

Whipped cream, compared to buttercream, isn't overpoweringly sweet or thick, instead having a very light creamy texture and a subtle sweetness that won't overwhelm your cake. Many grocery store bakeries usually carry whipped cream on hand, so asking for a substitution when you're ordering a cake shouldn't be too much of a problem. It also doesn't cost too much to substitute, meaning you don't have to worry about paying an absurd surcharge for having to switch frostings.

If you don't particularly like whipped cream all that much, however, there are other types of icing and frosting you can choose from. These can range from cream cheese frosting to coconut-pecan frosting, and even chocolate ganache. Each of these frostings can add a different layer of flavor and texture to your cake, which welcomes a whole new world of exploring different combinations.

Of course, you're also free to order the cake unfrosted and frost it at home with your own desired topping, should you wish.

Let's say you've decided to order a non-frosted cake to frost at home. You like buttercream frosting, but you're not sure how to make some that won't turn your cake into a rectangle of overwhelmingly sweet sugar. Fortunately, there are ways you can prepare buttercream frosting without it being as incredibly sweet as on grocery store cakes.

A very simple recipe for a not-too-sweet buttercream frosting involves combining butter, salt, vanilla extract, and confectioner's sugar into a bowl — the same procedure as most other buttercream icing recipes. The key difference here is that you should add a spoonful or two of plain Greek yogurt. This will cut some of that sugary taste and give the frosting a subtle tangier flavor. The yogurt also helps to make the frosting somewhat thicker and creamier, so it's best to use only one spoonful of yogurt if you don't want an incredibly thick layer of frosting.

Another recipe for buttercream frosting combines the lightness of meringue with the creaminess of butter. Start by whipping egg whites and powdered sugar into stiff peaks, before adding in soft butter, vanilla extract, and your choice of food coloring. The end result should be a smooth, delicate, and light buttercream that's both fluffy and delicately sweet without being overpoweringly so.

 Of course, you're also free to use your own kind of pre-prepared cake frostings as well or serve up the cake unfrosted — if you're into that kind of thing.