The Step You Need To Take Before Buying A Costco Sheet Cake

So, you want to buy a sheet cake from Costco? At a half sheet, the deluxe dessert is hefty enough to feed up to 48 hungry people for only $24.99. However, its big size presents a potentially big storage problem. Whether you opt for the white cake filled with vanilla cheesecake mousse or the double chocolate cake, both flavors should be refrigerated before serving because of their perishable ingredients. True to the store's philosophy of buying in bulk, Costco's massive sheet cakes take up a lot of space in the fridge. Measuring 12 by 16 inches, a couple of inches shy of a standard half sheet, the dessert will likely need a full shelf all to itself.

Although Costco's archaic but beloved cake ordering system allows you to schedule pick-up down to the time and date (provided you give them at least a day's notice minimum), chances are you'll still need to refrigerate the cake before the celebration begins. For instance, if you're planning to spruce up your Costco sheet cake with a custom design or colorful frosting for a birthday, plan to pick it up at least a day early. That means you should clear out enough fridge space to store the cake before you head to the store to buy it. And if you were planning on doing a grocery haul during the same Costco trip, it's best to avoid stocking up on anything that could take away valuable real estate in the refrigerator.

Clearing out fridge space for a Costco sheet cake might seem obvious, but taking the time to do it in advance ensures that the dessert doesn't sit out on the kitchen counter for too long. Between the buttercream frosting and the vanilla and chocolate mousse fillings, the wholesaler's custom cakes are dairy-based, requiring prompt refrigeration for quality and food safety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises leaving perishable foods out at room temperature for no more than two hours; if the weather's hot — say, above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — it's only safe to leave the sheet cake out for one hour. Besides, the last thing you want is for the frosted dessert to become a big melted mess. So depending on how long the drive is between home and your closest Costco, you'll probably want to pop it into the fridge as soon as you walk through the door.

Since buttercream frosting can stiffen in the fridge, you'll want to remove the cake at least half an hour to let it soften before slicing it. Thankfully, the airtight plastic container that Costco's sheet cakes come in should prevent the frosting from drying out and cracking. Note that if you're bringing one home a week or more before an event, you can freeze the cake for long-term storage. This is also a great way to store leftovers, so you can reclaim your cleared refrigerator space after serving the sheet cake.