The Red Flags To Watch Out For At The Grocery Store Bakery

If you're in the mood for fresh baked goods — or you're on the hunt to test out all of the best French pastries that you should try at least once — then your best bet for finding high quality products is to seek out a specialty bakery. However, more often you may find yourself shopping for those pastries in your grocery store's bakery section. Supermarket bakeries are more than capable of putting out quality baked goods, but some are better than others. To find out how to distinguish high from low quality at your grocer's bakery, Daily Meal spoke to an expert: Pauline Balboa Pelea, chef-instructor of Pastry & Baking Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education's New York City campus.

Pelea tells us, "The first red flag at a grocery store bakery would be the grocery store itself as you walk in. How is it kept? Is it clean, or are the shelves dusty?" If so, you can probably expect the same from the bakery section — and the highest quality baked goods won't come from a messy bakery. Pelea continues, "If items are not stacked neatly or are mixed up, I would walk away." 

However, this is not the only red flag to be aware of. Chef Pelea has a whole list for you to keep in mind, including frosting that looks cracked, pastries that are a little too perfect-looking, and more. 

Beyond the cleanliness of the area, what red flags should you be looking out for? Pauline Balboa Pelea adds, "A general red flag for products not looking fresh is when the products look 'dry.' An example is if the glaze used for fruit on fruit tarts does not look shiny, or if the whipped cream or frosting on cake items looks matte or cracked."

What to look out for also depends on the product, according to Pelea, if cookies or muffins are a bit "too symmetrical looking," they may not be the highest quality. She also says to look out for there not being enough add-ins, such as if a batch of chocolate chip cookies are lacking chocolate chips. Meanwhile, things like donuts and cinnamon rolls "need to be well-glazed" — if they're not, they're likely dry.

With layered cakes, Pelea says, "Slight condensation or dryness on the exterior is an indication the product was sitting too long on the shelf, or the product was not made on premises, meaning it was frozen and defrosted." Additionally, with any frosted cake, she suggests avoiding any with "intense food coloring" or frosting that has a "lumpy and matte" look, the latter of which is an indicator that the bakers used "full or partially hydrogenated fats" whereas high quality baked goods rely on butter.

On the other hand, Pauline Balboa Pelea tells us she looks for "two factors to see if the grocery is serving high-quality products, specifically in the bakery/pastry section." She notes that items being replenished is one good sign, saying that "constant replenishing of items is an indication of the freshness of the products."

Additionally, it's a very good sign if the bakery team is present. Pelea explains, "It is great to see someone behind the counter decorating or writing inscriptions on cakes, it's also good to see cakes coming out of the ovens." Still, it isn't necessarily a bad thing if a grocery store outsources their bakery items — but with a caveat. She says, "There's a higher chance that it is a high-quality product if the company that made it is referenced."

Now that you know what to look out for, you can differentiate between the good and bad grocery store bakeries whenever you set out to try the most iconic dessert from each state. And if you need somewhere to start, you can check out our ranking of the best grocery store bakeries — but be sure to refer to Pelea's tips even when you're at Costco or Whole Foods — which placed in our top two spots.