Junk Food Junkie: Safeway Carrot Cake....Seattle Version

Junk food junkie is back baby! It has been well over a year but an old fave made an appearance and much like that chocolate eruption cake, it felt like a sign for a revisit. In what seems like eons ago, I wrote what at the time seemed like a toss off review of a carrot cake slice from Safeway in SF. Well, oddly enough, it turned into one of my most read and internet searched reviews. Who knew. But now, new city, new life and new Safeways, could I find the slice of my dreams at my local stores?

I honestly thought this would be a no brainer. Usually when you are dealing with chains, they try to maintain their consistency with their cross store common offerings by having employees follow specific recipes. It is kind of why we rely on them to find our favorite things when we move to new places. I just sort of assume the same goes for Safeway and their bakery though, between the carrot cake and their cinnamon roll (another popular review!), I have found the basics are there but depending on the cooks in the kitchen, the execution can be vastly different from store to store. Thus I kind of figured the case would be true for Seattle. Little did I know it was somewhat worse.

My current abode is a mere 2 blocks from a Safeway and on my first visit I randomly wandered over to the bakery area to peruse the goods as I am want to do. And they did have the usual array of treats I had grown accustomed to, including their variety of square cake slices. You can spot the carrot right away as they all have that orange splotch of carrot shaped butter cream with the green top. But with further inspection of the selection on hand, it was quite clear, these in no way measured up to what I had chowed down on in SF.

These slices ran the gamut in size flat brown lead weight looking chunks to slightly larger seeming crumbly dry and unappetizing squares. And to add insult to injury, the “cream cheese frosting” on top of every one I looked at was more like a mere smear across the top that at times was so thin you could see the cake underneath. Well, I thought maybe it was just a product of this particular store which in essence, kind of sucks as it is the closest to me. Over the next few months, I randomly expanded my search and hit up 4 more Safeways (who knew there were so many in a city of this size?) I could get to relatively easily. I found the choices at the other stores fared no better. In fact the general consensus of the slices I saw were flat, dense and barely covered with a whiff of frosting.

I just never imagined with all the opportunities to get it right, that I would come across so many unappealing choices. Disheartened I eventually gave up even trying—to a point. Every now and then while passing through one of the locations I might buzz through the bakery quickly on the off chance, but each time I left unsatisfied. Right when it seemed all hope was lost, imagine my surprise when a week ago, I just popped into one of those Safeways (though sadly not the one near me) and found myself in the bakery section when what to my widening eyes did appear but slices that seemed like they might be acceptable. Of course I had to inspect closer and, while not all of them were up to par, I did come across 2 that seemed be like my old SF Safeway fave. After (too) much consideration I picked one of the two. Sure, I could have bought both, but if it didn’t taste as good as it looked then it would be a waste of money and food. Plus, I was trying not to be a glutton, at least this time.

So here it is. Looks good right? It definitely had the height. It looked quite moist. And most pleasantly of all, it seemed to have the right ratio (for me) of layer of cream cheese frosting across the top. A decently thick spread that completely covered the top and just the right amount of thickness for the amount of cake you are getting.

See that nice brown color and the even layers of cake and frosting, so far it seems so promising. Scooping my spoon down and through the cake I pull a big bite into my mouth and suddenly all those good flavors and memory come flooding back as my taste buds explode with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and yes…the random addition of a raisin here and there. Suddenly everything was right in the world as I nestled into bite after bite of the moist cake and creamy sweet frosting. And just like old times, I consumed an entire week of calories in one sitting and succumbed to the sugar rush of it all like a kid on Halloween night. Yeah, maybe I should have gotten that other slice, but then I would have probably eaten it all the next day, so I refer back to my previous “not be a glutton” statement. Still, I was quite content to just enjoy an old fave as I remembered.

It is probably just as well that I didn’t find this at my local spot. In fact, I was just there last night and they continue to put up those sad, tragic looking slices with little frosting. Their food waste must be huge for these things as I can’t imagine who is buying them thinking they are good. As for the other spot, it is a bit out of my way and does require a specific trip to get there. I haven’t been back recently, so don’t know if this is a one off or not, which is highly possible since I had not come across a decent slice there in my past visits, so who knows. I am sure I will get by there eventually and take another look to see if they have turned a corner for continued goodness, or reverted back to “just say no.” Till then, I will at least relish my good fortune for finding a slice of cake that satisfied my craving and brought back some good memories.

As a side note about the cinnamon roll Safeway used to do, I think I have mentioned in the past that they discontinued that single serving size they used to do (and was made the best at the Castro Safeway) so well and now only offer them in 4 and 6 packs. But they also changed the recipe for both the roll and the frosting they put on them and it just is not the same. Another good thing they messed up. I guess it just makes it easier to eat healthy….sigh…..