Costco Tiramisu Cheesecake Review
Author’s Note: Not a paid review, as usual. These are my own grumpy opinions. I have no affiliation with Costco.
The things I do for love.
I love tiramisu. I was excited about this new Tiramisu Cheesecake from Costco. In fact, I was SO eager, I visited my local store twice in one week, trying to buy one. Twice, my friends! I even gently harassed the Bakery employees, in a desperate attempt to gather intel and formulate a strategic acquisition plan. The things I do for love.
Anyway. I got one. Finally.
Aaaaand. It’s pretty good. But, maybe not epic enough to warrant the shameful (and shameless) lengths it took to get this elusive treat.
OK, what is it?
Essentially, you are getting a coffee-infused cheesecake over a cocoa graham crumb-crust, topped with whipped creamy stuff, and sprinkled with cocoa powder. And you’re getting a LOT of it! Although the label says 4.5 pounds, I weighed mine on my kitchen scale at 5 pounds.
The first thing I noticed is that the whipped top layer has a deceptively natural taste. It’s a combination of mascarpone cheese and “whipped topping” (made from assorted nasties — more about the ingredients later), but it somehow tastes almost like real whipped cream. Almost. I enjoyed it. Very much so. But I felt like a sell-out.
(You may have already seen my cranky review of this Tiramisu Delight Cake from Publix — which was NOT A DELIGHT. It deeply disappointed me. Probably as much as I disappointed my parents by majoring in art. You can read my agonized review here.)
The Flavors
Costco always does cheesecake well, so the “cold brew” coffee cheesecake is the best part of this dessert. Hands-down. I still prefer Costco’s Plain Cheesecake (you can read my review of it here), but this tiramisu version is a fun change of pace. The texture is soft, but rich, with a light coffee flavor. It’s pleasant, but I would have relished more coffee — I love the strong kick of espresso in traditional tiramisu. However, I appreciated the moderate sweetness that is “just right.”
(I loved the deep expresso bite in this frozen Tiramisu from Aldi, but I really hated the weird marshmallowy-stuff on top. Feel all the hatred in my silly review.)
I wish there were some boozy flavors to go with the coffee taste, but there aren’t. At least, none that I could discern. Alas. I’m a teetotaler, but I make up for it by enjoying naughty liquor flavors in my food. Although not part of the original recipe, it’s common for tiramisu to have either marsala wine or another alcohol, like rum. I guess you could always add your own little drizzle on the plate, and then let the crumb crust soak it up? Maybe?
The Crust
Speaking of that. The cookie crumb crust was oddly disappointing. But I think that is only because I have grown accustomed to VERY good crumb crusts from Costco. And this one wasn’t quite as delicious as the others. I had hyped myself up for an exciting chocolatey-ending to my slice. And it wasn’t there. The cocoa taste is weak, and the crumbs were powdery without a buttery richness to redeem them. The crust is a thick layer, but just lacking depth of flavor. Bland and crumbly.
The Whipped Topping
Ok, back to that whipped top layer. Egads! It’s more than half the pie depth! There’s a lot of it here, but it’s so light and airy, you won’t feel like you ate much. I loved the creamy, gossamer taste of this mascarpone-fluff. It’s lightly sweet, and dissolves on the tongue. And I legitimately believed I was eating real whipped cream for a hot minute.
Another bonus: despite being ever-so-delicate, the whipped topping keeps a crisp shape and doesn’t melt in the refrigerator, even after several days.
Presentation is everything.
Aesthetically, this is a fancy, celebration-worthy dessert. Costco has somehow avoided the “robot food” appearance, while serving up a sharp presentation. There are piped rosettes of the mascarpone-fluff in an attractive ring around the pie, with the eye-catching contrast of dusted cocoa powder. It looks elegant, without being pretentious.
(Are you looking for another cheesecake flavor? Here’s my review of Costco’s Lemon Meringue Cheesecake. I haven’t seen it in stores for a while, but maybe you’ll get lucky!)
Ingredients in Costco Tiramisu Cheesecake
Here is my best attempt at typing out the ingredients from the label. My local Costco continues to cut off the left edge of the bakery labels, so I have to guess at some of these. Grrr.
- Cream Cheese (Pasteurized Cultured Milk and Cream, Salt, Guar Gum, Carob Bean Gum)
- Mascarpone Cheese (Pasteurized Cream and Milk, Citric Acid)
- Whipped Topping (Water, Palm Kernel Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Dextrose, Coconut Oil, Carbohydrate Gum, Polysorbate, Sorbitan Monostearate, Polyglycerol Esters of Fatty Acids, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Salt, Sodium Citrate, Disodium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Soy Lecithin, Beta Carotene [Color])
- Sugar
- Graham (Enriched Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Vitamins B3, B1, B2, B9?, Iron], Graham Flour, Sugar, Palm Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Molasses, Salt, Baking Soda)
- Sour Cream (Grade A Cultured Cream)
- Eggs
- Butter (Cream and/or Milk, Salt)
- Cold Brew (Cold Brew Coffee, Sugar, Natural Flavors)
- Whole Milk (Pasteurized Milk with Vitamin D)
- Contains 2% or less of the following: Powdered Sugar (Sugar, Corn Starch), Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Vitamins B3, B1?, B2, B9, Cocoa Powder [Alkalized], Vanilla Extract, Salt.
I mean. There are some quality ingredients here. I appreciate the real dairy items, like cream cheese, sour cream, milk, mascarpone, and butter. It’s great to see real vanilla extract. But. It doesn’t entirely compensate for the hot mess of “stuff” in the whipped topping — including artificial flavors. Hmmph.
Price and Servings
This gargantuan cheesecake sells for a wallet-crushing $24. As mentioned above, mine weighed in at 5-ish pounds. So, it’s $4.80 per pound? That sounds better somehow, right? Right???
If you wrangled 16 servings from this pie (entirely possible, ’cause it’s yuge), each slice would cost $1.50. If you only managed 12 servings, it would increase to $2 per slice.
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) Bakery item, and the product # is 1869784.
Shelf Life
The “sell-by” date on my cheesecake was dated for 4 days after purchase. Which means I will eat this slowly over 7-10 days, probably. The topping is remarkably stable so far — no melting or weeping or oozing or deflating of any kind.
This dessert is packed in a sturdy, air-tight plastic dome, which helps prolong the life.
I froze a few slices, separated by parchment paper. For later. I’ll update you when I thaw them and serve them.
Dramatic Conclusion
If you find this Tiramisu Cheesecake at your store, buy it. Although only a vague nod to classic tiramisu, it’s a fun caffeine-spiked dessert with enjoyable textures and flavors. It would make a worthy dinner-party addition. Or satisfying ending to a family gathering. Or, the five-pound treat you deserve to single-handedly inhale after a long, hard week. You know.
The End.
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