Costco Kirkland Signature Pistachio Cake Review

Costco’s bakery items are usually pretty good, but their bar cakes (the Kirkland Signature Tuxedo Cake and the Kirkland Signature Tiramisu Cake) might be the best things that they make. I don’t think you can buy a better cake from a grocery store than either of these! For that reason, I was very excited when I noticed the Kirkland Signature Pistachio Cake in my local warehouse. At $25, it’s not cheap, but it looks very elegant and appetizing – almost like a wedding cake. Does it taste good enough to make you forget about the price and Costco’s other great cakes?

Image of the Costco Kirkland Signature Pistachio Cake sitting on a table.
Costco Kirkland Signature Pistachio Cake.

I was hosting a late Mother’s Day/early Father’s Day barbecue for our parents and went to Costco to pick up some steak to serve. We weren’t sure what we were going to serve for dessert, but as soon as we saw this cake, that problem was solved! We had to try this new Kirkland Signature Pistachio Cake.

Other cakes from Costco we’ve liked are the Kirkland Signature Raspberry Lemonade Cake, Kirkland Signature Strawberry Shortcake, Kirkland Signature New York Style Strawberry Cheesecake, Costco Kirkland Signature Fruit Cake and the Kirkland Signature Raspberry White Chocolate Heart Cake.

Location in Store

You can find the cake in the refrigerator in the bakery. The item number is 1676830.

Top down image of one slice of the pistachio cake laying on its side on a white plate so you can see the layers.
There is lots of whipped cream.

Taste

This is a very simple but tasty cake. Honestly, I find it a bit hard to describe. The cake part itself is fairly plain; it’s slightly sweet with just a hint of pistachio. The icing tastes like a thickened whipped cream and has a good amount of small pistachio fragments mixed in to add texture and flavor.

Side view image of the pistachio cake with the lid off so the entirety of the cake is visible.
It looks delicious.

I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of pistachios, but I think this cake is okay. It’s just kind of bland. The pistachio elements are well done – noticeable, but not overpowered. The first thing I thought when I tasted the cake was that it was very light and not too sweet; perfect for summer parties.

Cake isn’t something I would normally think of as refreshing, but I think the description is fair for this one. It’s a dessert you can eat after a big dinner on a hot day and will probably leave you wanting another bite. Unfortunately, as I had more bites (two pieces over two days), that feeling wore off and I started to find the cake more boring than anything.

Cost

This cake isn’t cheap at all! It costs $24.99 Canadian. In my opinion, that’s pretty expensive for a grocery store-bought cake. It serves about 10 to 12 people, unless you’re cutting very thin slices.

Top down image of the pistacho cake with the lid off so you can see the top of the cake decorated with pistachios.
The top is decorated with pistachios.

Convenience

The cake needs to be kept refrigerated and has a best-before date that’s five days from the date it was packaged on. It slices very easily and can be frozen without any issue.

Image of the label on the pistacho cake showing ingredients, cost and best before date.
The cake costs $24.99.

I think people who enjoy a lighter dessert that doesn’t have a ton of flavor or sweetness would enjoy this. If you’re a fan or rich, chocolaty, sweet and flavorful desserts I wouldn’t recommend this.

Nutrition

Calories

1/8th of the cake contains 450 calories, 34 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, eight grams of protein and 230 milligrams of sodium. The sugar isn’t that high for a slice of cake and I think that’s also reflected in the taste. I wouldn’t say this cake is very sugary.

Image of the nutrition facts for the Pistachio cake.
Nutrition facts.

Ingredients

This definitely isn’t healthy and has some ingredients that I’m not sure what they were until I used Google to find out such as eucheuman, modified manioc starch and sodium alginate. The cake contains milk, egg, wheat and pistachio. It may contain soy, peanut, other tree nuts, sulfites, sesame, triticale, barley, oats and rye.

Image of the ingredients list from the package,
Ingredients.

Scoring

Taste: 6/10

Cost: 6/10

Convenience: 10/10

Nutrition: 0/10

Overall

Walk on by!

Costco sells far better cakes than this one. Unless you’re crazy about pistachios, skip it and buy a Kirkland Signature Tuxedo Cake or a Kirkland Signature Tiramisu Cake.

Have you tried this cake? What did you think of it?


Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).

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20 thoughts on “Costco Kirkland Signature Pistachio Cake Review”

  1. Hello, i was looking this cake everywhere in calgary , couldnt fint it, is that becouse they dont bake this flover all costco locations?

    Reply
  2. This is the worst cake we have ever had bought it for my moms birthday and she refuse to have it after her first bite. No one liked it.

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  3. The cake is quite good. It reminds me of cakes made by a Greek Pastry shop called Palace on the Danforth where the National Bank is situated now. The owner retired and closed shop. The absolute best Greek bakery in all of North America. That said, you are right about price; not worth it for $25. Costco is quickly catching up to the likes of other grocery stores like Loblaws and Foodland. This is why I do all my shopping in the USA where grocery shopping is at least 35% cheaper. I still get my boneless chicken breasts for $1.59/lb USD.

    Reply
  4. Hi Natalie,

    Just wanted to thank you once more for the review on the coconut chocolate covered little cups. They are so convenient, love the taste and really like the fact of just 3g sugar. Thanks for the review!

    Reply
  5. As a pistachio nut, I was disappointed in this cake, not enough flavour or pistachios. Bland and practically boring.

    Reply
  6. You did a great job with this review! I had a sample of this cake in store and didn’t think it was worth the high coast in relation to the taste. When I eat cake, I hope to have a wow factor with it and this was definitely not it. It did however, taste like a good quality cake so to me your review is on point.

    Reply
  7. Haha, I’ve literally been waiting for your review since I saw this cake at Costco several weeks ago. Have visited your website several times to see if you’ve reviewed it. Now here it is! Thank you!!!

    Reply
  8. That is a lot of money for a bland cake with a frightening list of ingredients. It is back to the drawing board for Costco’s bakery chefs.

    Reply
  9. I had never heard of Eucheuman before. According to Google, it’s a “…tropical edible red seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii L.) is rich in nutrients and polyphenolic compounds that may suppress cancer through its antioxidant and antiproliferative properties.” Ok but why is it in cake? Weird! Aha! Because “Eucheuma powder was used as a flour replacement in sponge cake. Rheological analysis indicated that Eucheuma made cake batters less fragile. Eucheuma could replace up to 10% flour in sponge cake.” I still say that’s weird. We love your reviews! Thank you, I’ll pass on cake with Eucheuma.

    Reply
    • It is weird! Yep, pass on this one. The Costco of cakes is going up a lot (you can see my previous reviews for cakes to see how much) and this one just isn’t worth the money.

      Reply
  10. I love the tiramisu one! I stopped buying them cuz they jackup the prize! Am not crazy about it anymore! It was just right for the price bfore 16.99$ CAD.. it was a fair price!

    Reply

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