It feels like forever since we’ve had the pleasure of a food taste test after nearly two years of remote working… but now that the team are back in the office, and with Easter just round the corner, there’s no better time to welcome its return! 🐰😋

Having already covered hot cross buns in 2020, and Easter eggs in 2019, the obvious theme for this years Easter taste test was cake! From branded cakes and own-label cupcakes through to traditional Simnel cakes, in this taste test, we take you through the best (and the worst 👀) options available to customers this year!

Round 1 of the taste test saw the battle of Cadbury’s and Mr Kipling! It’s safe to say that the whole office had high hopes for the cakes offered in this round….These included a Mini Egg Gateau (£3.50, 8 servings), Crème Egg Cakes (£2.50, 4 servings,) , Mr Kipling Egg Fancies (£1.50, 8 servings) and Mr Kipling Lemon Layered Slices (£1.50, 8 servings) .

 The winner for taste and texture in this round was the Crème Egg Cake with an average score of 8 thanks to its rich chocolatey sponge, generously swirled with crème egg icing. 🤤 In terms of appearance, these cakes did fall short however, as did the Mr Kipling Lemon Slices which are claiming to be Easter themed due to a small bunny on the packaging, and nothing on the cake itself! 👎🏻 By contrast, Mr Kipling Egg Fancies had a fun, Easter themed appearance with the top of each fancie resembling an egg white and yolk 🍳 Naturally, the Mini Egg Gateau makes an egg-cellent choice in terms of appearance, but sadly falls short on texture with it being fairly dry.

To Summer and Kate's dismay, Round 2 took a fruity twist as we blind taste tested M&S and Asda’s versions of Simnel cake…

We had to do a double take at our receipts when we learnt that M&S’s Simnel cake is 10p less than Asda’s (£3.50) given that ASDA own brand options are usually considerably cheaper than M&S own label products 😲… however, after tasting both cakes, it is clear to see why Asda went for a more premium price! This softly spiced sponge was packed with a delicious mix of dried fruits and topped with a generous layer of marzipan 😋 whereas M&S’s version crumbled when sliced and had a very thin layer of marzipan 🤨 disappointing indeed!

With a belly full of cake, we sluggishly nibbled our way through Round 3 which featured Morrisons Chick/Bunny Cupcakes(£1.30 for a pack of 2) , Co-Op Hoppy Bunny Cupcakes (£6 for a pack of 12) and Greggs Easter Fairy Buns (£2.50  for a pack of 4) 🧁

This round was underwhelming to say the least, especially when biting into the Co-Op Hoppy Bunny Cupcakes which had an extremely artificial taste and stodgy texture leaving them with a low taste score of 4.5 😬 The taste of the Morrisons Chick/Bunny Cupcakes were slightly better, and the super cute chick and bunny iced toppings scored high in terms of presentation 🐣 Greggs Easter Fairy Buns were the best out of a pretty bad bunch in terms of taste and texture with a delicate sponge and subtly sweet taste … but again, you’d be better off putting your pennies towards a non-Easter themed sweet-treat from the counter! 🥐