Our Specialty Double Layer Carrot Cake

Last year, I purchased a carrot cake from Aldi upon the request of my youngest child, who likes carrot cake. I served it for dessert on Easter, alongside an array of other sweets and fruit. The cake was a surprising hit, and it’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever purchased at Aldi. The only store-bought cakes I can think of that I like equally well would be some limited-time German cream cakes Aldi sometimes sells, along with the vanilla and chocolate sheet cakes from Trader Joe’s, a cousin to Aldi.

Anyway, when the carrot layer cake showed up again in the weekly Aldi ad among the Easter goodies for 2022, I immediately added it to my shopping list.

The Our Specialty Double Layer Carrot Cake cost $7.99 for a 32-ounce cake at the time of publication. The carrot cake is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Aldi does not offer online ordering for its specials if they’re not in stock at your local store.

Our Specialty is not an Aldi private label. It’s a brand produced by Rich’s, a privately held, family-owned food company based in Buffalo, New York. Rich’s was founded in 1945 when Robert E. Rich Sr. created a long-lasting soybean-based cream as a replacement for dairy-based whipped cream that was affected by wartime milk shortages. Today, the company sells pizza, beverages, and various desserts and baked goods. (The Rich family also has a sweet tooth for the sporting world, going back to naming rights of its hometown Buffalo Bills’ stadium between 1973 and 1998. The family currently owns three minor league baseball teams, one of them in Buffalo, and is also involved with sponsorships in motorsports and English soccer.)

I found this carrot cake this year in the Aldi Find freezer aisle in my local store, but you might also find it in the refrigerated aisle, or I think I may have found last year’s cake on an endcap near the checkout lanes. If you buy it frozen, you’ll want to give it a couple of hours in the fridge to thaw. My family has learned from experience that the frosting tends to fall off in chunks if you try to eat this cake before it’s fully defrosted (but some of us just can’t wait that long). The package does not say anything about needing to keep this cake refrigerated, but I like to store it in the fridge.

This is a cake, so of course it’s loaded with calories and sugar. The first few ingredients are sugar, carrots, wheat flour, soybean oil, and cream cheese. It doesn’t contain raisins or nuts like many carrot cakes do, but it does have some crushed pineapple that adds a small to moderate amount of texture.

If you’re watching out for allergens, this contains eggs, milk, soy, and wheat. It may contain tree nuts.

There are 14 servings (75 grams each) per cake. One serving has 380 calories, 22 grams of total fat (28% DV), 7 grams of saturated fat (37% DV), 350 mg of sodium (15% DV), 42 grams of total carbohydrates (15% DV), 33 grams of total sugars, and 32 grams of added sugars (65% DV).

This cake is delicious, with moist spiced cake layers and a rich, thick frosting with an indulgent cream cheese flavor and just the right amount of sweetness without being overly sweet. With pretty carrot icing features, it also looks gorgeous on your Easter or springtime table, and when you slice it the layers are just as pretty.

Just buy this cake. Trust me. Maybe get an extra one to freeze for later, too. It will be a highlight of any springtime dessert spread, or it’s nice as a snack any time of day, especially when paired with a cup of tea or coffee.

The Verdict:

The Our Specialty Double Layer Carrot Cake is one of the best store-bought cakes we’ve ever had. Not only does it taste great, with moist cake and rich cream cheese frosting; it also looks gorgeous with its layers and iced carrots. This is worth trying at least one time. If you like carrot cake, you won’t be disappointed.