When I shared my favorite Costco cake hack on my InstaStories I got a much bigger response than I expected. With three more birthdays coming up soon I thought now would be the perfect time to share this cake hack. If you missed it keep reading for a simple Costco cake hack. It will will save you lots of money when feeding a crowd!
how to customize your Costco cake
I should start with a disclaimer that I’m not positive that this will work at any Costco. Some locations might not be as flexible in their bakery department. However, I’ve been able to request a “custom” cake at several different locations, so it will probably work for you. I’m going to walk you through the steps of what I do when I’m ordering a Costco cake that I’m planning to “decorate” myself.
ordering your cake
Let me just say, our family loves Costco cake! If you’re a Costco member than you’re probably aware that they do have quite a few designs to choose from. However, sometimes they don’t have quite what you’re going for. I also actually prefer the scored cake (with the lines piped on) rather than a design. I find that it’s much easier to cut pieces that are the right size if the cake is scored.
Employees have told me that you need to be very specific with what you want if it varies from their standard choices. So when you’re filling out the order form don’t be afraid to write out what you want!
When I’m ordering I put a check mark on the form next to “scored flowers”. I also cross out the word “flowers”. Then where it asks you for the colors you want I write “N/A” and “Just scored with lines, no flowers”.
In full disclosure, although this Costco cake hack has worked for me several times at various locations, there was one time when it didn’t. I’m not sure if I worded the order form differently. Or maybe it was a time when Mike ordered. Or maybe the employee was just confused.
What happened was that I went to pick up my cake and it was completely piped with a white rose in every square. Honestly, it wasn’t the end of the world because it just took a few extra minutes to take care of it. I carefully scrapped off the rose buds and covered the squares with sprinkles like I’d been planning!
decorating a Costco cake
The great thing about this technique is that I can decorate each individual square however I want! For my daughter’s Frozen party in January I used sprinkles and cupcake rings that I ordered off of Amazon. This gave her the Elsa cake she wanted in an affordable (and easy) way.
I’ve also used chocolate molds and colored melting wafers to make seashells that went with a swimming birthday party. I’ve even used graham cracker crumbles and marshmallows to decorate a chocolate frosted Costco cake for a camping party!
Normally, you would probably spend at least twice as much for a cake of this size. However, with this Costco cake hack it’s an easy and affordable way to have a personalized cake!
Of course, you can also purchase a plain, inexpensive half sheet or full sheet cake from several retailers. So this cake hack for a party isn’t exclusive to a Costco cake!
Where do you like to get your cakes from?
Find more fun party ideas on my Parties & Celebrations Pinterest board!
67 comments
Wow, that is a great idea! I love it! Never would have thought to do this. I’m sure most Costco’s would accommodate this, not too hard to do less work for them!
Well, isn’t that genius! I remember your hack story and was kicking myself for not paying more attention to it or taking notes. lol i should’ve just asked you, because when it came time to order our cake, I couldn’t remember what you did.
Seriously though, aren’t Costco cakes the best? SO good and so cheap! Pinning so i won’t forget about this next year!
Costco cakes are the best! Who doesn’t love them? 🙂
This is such a great idea! Perfect for birthday parties and events! Thanks for sharing!
This is amazing!! What a great way to save some money but still personalize your cake! Also, I think Costco cakes are so yummy!
Well this is genius! Such a great idea and looks way better!
We always bake our cakes at home. Well only not when I need a piece for the shooting my picnics.
Veronika
https://brunettefromwallstreet.com
This is actually genius! I got a spiderman cake for my son and it had blue and black icing. Not really what I wanted and it was super messy. Plus all that food coloring! I will never do that again. I will try this instead.
Good to know! Cake is my weakness, I just can’t say no!
Awesome idea! Let me share my Costco cake hack. For our wedding on the cheap, we ordered two Costco cakes, a choco with choco mousse and a white with vanilla mousse, both with just the piped border. I took both and overlapped the cake boards, long side to long side and butted both cakes right next to each other. I added a pillar and a nicer bakery cake for the topper right in the center. I decorated all with fresh flowers, covering the seam. Imagine our guests surprise when we cut into the cake and they had a choice of two flavors in “one” cake!!
Fabulous idea!
Thank you so much! It’s definitely a favorite party hack of ours!
This is genius! My sons’ birthday is this month and I think I’ll give this a try!
I love this idea. Such an easy way to have a custom cake. And since I’m always at costco anyway it’s easy pick up 🙂
Cool…this is a great hack! I usually get a grocery store cake to decorate, but they are much smaller. Love this.
So theyll do a chocolate cake with white buttercream? Thought you could only do white with white, and choc with choc. Will have to ask!
Some locations might not do whatever you want, but every location I’ve tried it at has let me! Just ask someone in the bakery department to confirm before you place your order. 🙂
This is brilliant! Perfect for any large crowd.
Awesome idea! Could you please tell me how many squares there are or how many rings you used? Thanks!
Hi! I believe there are 48 squares on a Costco sheet cake! And I think the rings I ordered from Amazon came in a 48 pack as well. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much! Would 1.25” round rings work?
I think so! The squares are a decent size.
Thank you for your help!
Hi Justine,
This is amazing! I found this on Pinterest after getting a quote from our local cake shop for $85 for a 7″ cake, yikes! Can you link the rings you bought? Are they from Amazon? Thank you in advance!
Oh yay, I’m so glad you found this helpful! The rings I bought are from Amazon! I can’t post the link in the comments, but I shared them at the bottom of the post under where I wrote “where do you get your cakes from?” Let me know if you have any other questions!
Nice idea!! I was not able to find the link of the rings at all in the post or at the bottom. Can you please share with me?
Hi Millie! There are lots of great rings on Amazon, depending on the theme you want. I’ve also asked my local grocery store bakery if I could buy some direct from them before. Here is a link to some of our favorites: https://www.amazon.com/shop/littledove.justine/photo/amzn1.shoppablemedia.v1.collage.f9674fb3-4b38-4465-916c-32bce262ae5c?ref_=aipsfphoto
Late to the comment party, pun intended. Hopefully this may help with planning!
Former cake decorator with major Midwest chain grocery store. My number may be off a bit, but here’s the breakdown of sheet cakes and servings. Scored cakes should have 2×2 inch pieces.
1/4 (quarter) sheet 24ish servings
1/2 (half) sheet 48ish servings
Full sheet 98ish servings
Thank you Abby! Yep, I believe the Costco cakes are half sheets and have 48 pieces!
I’ve never thought about using the scores. What a great idea! I always get a plain cake from Costco, and then order an edible cake topper on Etsy or Amazon. It looks like an expensive cake, and tastes even better! 😉
Great idea Gina! Their cakes are fantastic and I bet that always looks great!
We don’t have a Costo but we do have a Sam’s club. For my in laws 50th anniversary I ordered white cupcakes and white cake and decorated them myself with 50th anniversary paper cut out I made with my cricut and toothed picks. It turned out amazing. The cakes from Sam’s club are always moist and everyone raved about them.
That is a great idea! Costco did cupcakes for awhile, I wish they would again.
My son’s birthday is in October when Costco usually has a spider/web decorating option. I have ordered a cake with “web only-no spider” and then added a Spider-Man cutout from the birthday invitations. Voila! Spider-Man cake!
What a great idea!!
Hello I plan on doing this for my daughter’s birthday coming up! But with a vampirina theme. I plan on doing white frosting with hopefully a purple/black border and I’m ordering an edible topper image! But my question to you is, is the white or chocolate cake better? I’ve never had Costco cake but everyone says its amazing so that’s what we will do this year! Usually I love chocolate but everyone says the vanilla is better.
Honestly, they’re both good! We almost always order a chocolate cake with the vanilla filling and vanilla frosting.
Great post! Thanks! I love hacks. One year for my daughter’s 4th birthday we requested the dino cake at costco and put in notes for a Pink dinosaur rather than the blue in photo. Everyone loved the cake!
Such a cute idea! I love how accommodating the Costco bakery is!
Such an Awesome Idea I just purchased an I decorated one from our local Costco and U plan on putting an edible image on it.. Thank you for the idea.
Love this idea! Need to try it for my next cake need !
Gabrielle
http://www.gabriellearruda.com
I had a party for a friend who loves lemon. Ordered the white scored cake from Costco. They doubled the height of the scores & I filled each square with lemon curd. She loved it!
What a great idea Diane! Thanks for sharing!
How many squares are on each cake? Great idea!
I believe that it’s 8 across and 6 down, for a total of 48 squares. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Thanks for your idea. We had a birthday for one of our gal golfers & had to pull it together in a rush. She loves white cake & anything lemon so I asked Costco to score the cake & when I explained that I was going to fill each square with lemon curd, they said they would score it twice to build up each piece to hold the filling. Wow…awesome service & the cake was a huge hit served with extra curd to drizzle. For $20, why would you go anywhere else!
That sound like such a delicious idea! Thanks for sharing!
This is BRILLIANT! Using this for my daughter’s 1st Birthday in a few weeks!
Oh yay! I would love to see it after the party, send me an email at justine@littledoveblog.com if you have a few minutes or tag me on IG Stories!
I loved this cakes very much.Its too delicious.Such a cute idea! I love how accommodating the Costco bakery is!
After reading your tip, I ordered a white cake for an adult birthday with double scoring (one on top of the 1st one). This way, the scoring was extra tall & I filled each square with lemon curd (birthday girl’s favorite flavor). Served excess curd on the side if people wanted more. Big hit!
Yum! We’ve done lemon curd as well and I agree—it’s a great choice! Thanks for leaving a comment and letting me know how you liked it!
Great idea! Those look fantastic! I’m looking to do something similar for a graduation cake. Any ideas/suggestions for each individual scored square? I’d love some inspiration!
For older kids and adults I have used molded chocolates (you can by any type of mold design on Amazon!) and lemon curd! Chocolate fudge or jam would be good in the squares too!
Thank you!