Trader Joe's Strawberry Mini Sheet Cake

We haven't tried the Yellow Mini Sheet Cake with Chocolate Buttercream yet. Nor have we managed to get our hands on the Cookies n' Cream Mini Sheet Cake. But we have reviewed the following:

Trader Joe's Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean Mini Sheet Cake

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake

Trader Joe's Lemon Mini Sheet Cake

Trader Joe's Toasted Coconut Mini Sheet Cake

They're all more or less the same in terms of texture. Each one flaunts moist-ish cake topped with thick, luscious buttercream or cream cheese frosting. In every case—at least in my humble opinion—the frosting has outshined the cake itself by a good margin. Some flavors are slightly better than others.

My main complaint about most of these offerings is that they don't have enough of the headlined flavor, particularly the lemon one wasn't over-the-top lemony, as I'd have preferred it to be. And that was our main gripe about the coconut one, too. If I'm buying a coconut dessert, I want it to be absolutely bursting with real coconut flavor and real coconut pieces.

It seems we've found ourselves in the same situation here with Trader Joe's Strawberry Mini Sheet Cake. There's simply not enough strawberry flavor in the dessert. The cake is fine, though I'd still argue it's nothing to write home about. The frosting is pretty delicious and indulgent, but still...not enough strawberry to make it truly memorable and set this treat head and shoulders above any other grocery store's bakery fare—let alone stuff from a dedicated bakery.

If they wanted to make this one super special, they could have included larger strawberry chunks, freeze dried strawberry pieces all through the frosting, or an actual cache of strawberry jam or jelly or filling right in the cake. I see "strawberry preserves" in the ingredients, but it just doesn't come through in the final flavor as much as I'd like it to. You can even tell in the picture, there are only one or two minuscule flecks of red and pink actual strawberry in that whole piece of cake. To be sure, it tastes like strawberry, but it tastes more like wheaty cake and sweet cream cheese.

In the end, it's nothing to complain about really. It's a perfectly delicious, creamy, decadent dessert, but I'd probably reach for some traditional strawberry shortcake over this offering if given the choice. Seven out of ten stars from me on Trader Joe's Strawberry Mini Sheet Cake. Seven and a half stars from the beautiful wifey. Six bucks for the 18 oz cake, found with the baked goods.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Garlic Shrimp Chips

Imported from Denmark, Trader Joe's Shrimp Chips are light, airy, crispy, and full of shrimp and garlic flavor. Parsley, dill, and chives round out the impressive seasoning blend. They're made with tapioca flour, but they have a look and feel not unlike that of puffed rice—like rice crisps or even rice cakes.

They're a tad sweeter than I might have guessed, but the savory and salty flavors balance it out nicely. The taste is honestly quite addicting. Sonia and I polished off the entire three and a half serving bag in well under a day, but it's well within the realm of possibility that two adults could demolish the bag in a single sitting.

The nutrition info is satisfactory, considering the relatively indulgent taste and texture of this snack and the fact that you can have 30 chips per serving. These would go great with an American lager or pilsner if you're looking to pair them with a cold one. I think one of Trader Joe's Sparkling Fruit Beverages would work nicely, too, if you're going the non-alcoholic route.

The spiel on the back of the bag says you can pair them with a spicy, creamy dip. I think I'd like to try them with a sweet chili hummus or something along those lines. Sonia insists they should stay unsullied by condiments of any kind. I must admit, they're pretty amazing just straight out of the bag.

Snacktacular. It's conceivable you won't like these if you don't like the taste of shrimp or garlic...or if you're averse to the puffed tapioca texture. But Sonia and I would both absolutely buy Trader Joe's Shrimp Chips again. I hope they stick around at TJ's. Nine out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. Eight and a half out of ten stars from me.

Tapioca is naturally gluten free, so I would think this whole product would be gluten free, but it is not labeled as such. Maybe someone can enlighten us in the comments.

Bottom line: 8.75 out of 10.