Review- Tesco Finest Salted Caramel Cake

Another year, another birthday, another cake - It's the only good part of ageing.. Well aside from the presents obviously.. Who doesn't like presents? No one, that's who! 

I opted for something a tad "fancier" as my celebration sponge this time round, having eyed up the £10 Tesco Finest Cakes for months*. Swaying back and forth over whether the Red Velvet option should be the one.. Or Mocha.. Or Salted Caramel.. I eventually got a grip and settled on the latter and whacked it in my trolley, prior to speeding off so I couldn't change my mind for the 100th time. 

Indulgent toffee sponge filled with chocolate frosting and covered with a salted caramel buttercream, decorated with Belgian milk chocolate chips, fudge pieces and a salted caramel drizzle.

Designed to feed 14 as well as being suitable for vegetarians, the cake certainly looked the part with a swirly frosted top and not so expertly drizzled, drizzle.. But we can live with that.

Cutting with ease into neat slices, the sponge felt plenty soft with a decent/well proportioned layer of both the two fillings.. Not to mention, smelling absolutely divine! 

Ensuring I got a massive wodge, I got stuck in and was immediately greeted by deliciously sweet, buttery tones, just as its scent suggested. Super soft and tender, the 3 sponges were pretty decent texture wise, not dry in the slightest and provided the first whiff of caramel. This was only cranked up a gear by the smooth, thickly slathered buttercream which was sweet, naturally, but no overly sickly or cloying. The middle layer of chocolate, which I found to be more akin to a set custard than frosting, delivered a strong hit of cocoa and went a long way in helping diminish any potential overdose of sugar, but I did feel it took away from the overall caramel flavour.. Well, that was until hitting the drizzled sauce upon top which oozed salted, toffee flavour and even a lingering, pleasant saline aftertaste! A final measly scattering of fudge and chocolate hardly contributed any flare but if one was lucky enough to get some on their piece, there would be no complaints! YUM.

Overall, this Tesco Finest Salted Caramel Cake is a sheer delight. It's been executed superbly, tastes mouthwateringly good and delivers on the promised and oh so important, salted caramel aspect.. Even if only the case in the sauce opposed to the buttercream! If you've got a Birthday coming up (Or just a cake!) I highly recommend you opt for one of these beauties - I am sure Mum would be thrilled with one for Mother's Day come the 26th also! It's a 4.5 out of 5 from me. 

*Not to mention the fact that I've somehow managed to exhaust all that Asda have to offer - Including last years almighty Flake Cake! 

Review- Nestle Fab NEW LE Birthday Cake Ice Lollies

Happy Birthday Fab! Congrats on making it to 50! To celebrate, Nestle have only gone and done something ingenious.. Not only have they supplied their own birthday cake but they've incorporated it into an Ice Lolly too! This has to be sorcery! 

My beloved Kevvie was the one to point me in the direction of this NEW Limited Edition flavour and I headed to Sainsbury's to pick myself up a box of 6 for £2. Suitable for vegetarians and without artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, the only thing, according to Kev The Gluten Free-er, that one has to worry about, is the use of maltodextrin which apparently is "suspect".. Whatever that means. 

Raspberry water ice and sponge cake flavour with a vanilla flavour coating and sugar strands.

My Lolly's raspberry had bled into the cakey part which was a shame.. But it smelt amazing so I got stuck straight in! Completely forgetting to picture the inside, the Fab had the standard layout of water ice coated in a creamy coloured layer, followed by the vanilla 'icing" with a finishing sprinkle of sprinkles. Taking a bite, taste wise, I pretty much fell into heaven - A sugary sweet crunch was the first thing to hit, moving to pure vanilla and an almost caramelly, condensed milk flavour which although wasn't exactly that of sponge, it wasn't far off and most certainly delicious! Fruity raspberry and nothing but came in abundance from the "iced" part itself which did somewhat remind me of the jam in an actual Birthday Cake.. Even if it was a lot more potent in this case! All the elements went superbly together and I soon found myself longing for another - Yummy yum yum!

Eek! Nestle certainly haven't let themselves down here.. These NEW Birthday Cake Fab are very tasty, indeed! I highly recommend you go grab yourself a box (Make it several as I reckon they're going to be dead popular!) whilst you can - Whether you are a cake fanatic like myself or not*, young or "old", a first time buyer or longtime lover, there really is nothing not to like!

Thank you Fab, for being my favourite Ice Lolly for the last 20 something years of this Snack Warriors little life and here's to another 50 together! It's a 4.5 out of 5 from me.

*Why aren't you a cake fanatic? Please go and take a long, hard look at yourself. 

Review- Asda NEW Boo! The Ghost Cake

BOO!! ..I scared you, didn't I? No? Alright but I can't be the only one to prefer the cuter side of all things Halloween opposed to the sheer terror of Killer Clowns and other hideously disturbing "tricks" - Where is the fun in any of that when you can just stay home, safe and sound whilst eating adorable, crowd pleasing cakes? I know what I'll be doing. 

Asda also seem to know what's good for us in having 2 NEW Celebration Cakes in their spooky bakery - A Petrifying Pumpkin to smash into if you're not quite content on passing up on the Halloween tomfoolery completely and this, Boo! The Ghost, priced at £5 and designed to serve 12 including the Vegetarians. You're welcome Vegetarians. 

Look at little Boo with his golf ball-esque figure! If he doesn't make your heart warm and fuzzy rather than palpitate in a fright, I don't know what will.

The story of Boo. A tale to behold.

Terrifyingly tasty! Our scrummy Madeira sponge is packed with frosting and plum and raspberry jam, all topped with a cloak of spook-ilicious fondant icing. 

The cake cut beautifully with a sharp knife, slicing through the soft layers to produce neat wedges which could have been the recommended 12 given the chance as it was certainly robust enough! Starting with the sponge, texture wise it was the semi dry and bendy type you tend to find with most supermarket bought cakes but it did taste pleasant enough with vanilla tones coming through. Sandwich in the centre was a rather measly slathering of frosting and jam which although did add sweetness a long with a generic fruity flavour, wasn't anywhere near enough for the quantity of sponge present.. Especially when the thick fondant icing on the outside was another relatively dry element, not to mention sweet and nothing but! 

Overall and despite my proportion complaints, this NEW Boo! The Ghost Cake isn't all that bad or offensive and certainly won't disappoint a crowd of sugar ravenous kiddos. Whack in a second layer of fillings and even the adults might be tempted.. Rather than being left to eat the abundance of icing on the board which could plague a whole army of zombies with diabetes. Have a lovely Halloween weekend all! It's a 3 out of 5 from me. 

Want a few more Treats? Check out Monster Munchies over at NibsnScribs to really get in the spirit! 

Review- Asda NEW Bourbon Cake

Like a woman possessed after the epic, Custard Cream of a few weeks ago, I couldn't wait to try the chocolate cake version of a biscuit classic.. The Birthday Bourbon was purchased! Who decided that certain Cakes were meant specifically for Birthdays anyways? Surely that's Cake discrimination. 

Once again, the Whopper of a delight cost £7 and designed to feed 16.. Although I am sure it is overall larger than the Custard Cream despite the obvious shape difference - It is a shame Asda didn't include a weight on the boxes!*

What a whopper! This cake takes the biscuit.. our spectacular sponge sandwich flooded with chocolate flavour buttercream filling and topped with chocolate flavour icing - perfect with a cuppa! 

Tadaaaa! One slightly squiffy and buffed yet still effective looking, Bourbon Cake. I love the attention to detail - A sprinkling of sugar goes a hell of a long way in making or breaking said biscuit! 

Slicing up the Cake, a knife went through the layers with no real effort to reveal the chocolatey goodness which smelt nothing but delicious - Not of biscuits though as I had hoped!

Pro tip - Always go for the corner piece of a cake.. You get double the icing! Speaking of this rolled chocolate fondant, it was a lot harder than the soft, malleable kind of the Custard Cream Cake as well as being noticeably thinner - Thankfully, this didn't effect the taste and was still as sweet and chocolatey. A good squidgy texture came from the sponge which I would say was a cross between cake and brownie with a rich flavour and absolute zero in the way of dryness. Sandwiched between the 2 layers was of course the buttercream. Again, although less than I expected, it was beautifully light and whipped with further sweet, chocolate tones and generally scrummy! Sadly no Bourbon flavour transpired but this didn't take away from the Cake being enjoyable.. Not to mention almost tasting homemade!

OK, so this NEW Bourbon Cake may just be a chocolate cake dressed as a biscuit but it is a very yummy one.. And not to mention, very aesthetically pleasing! No, it doesn't come anywhere close to the Custard Cream but I have never had a supermarket chocolate sponge (Cake/Brownie hybrid) quite like it or anywhere near as good so it isn't a complete fail for Asda. A difficult one to mark - It's a 3.5 out of 5 from me!

*I did some maths and worked out that each of the cakes if meant to weigh 800g (I think). I don't believe it. 

Review- Asda NEW Custard Cream Cake

Since Asdas' Birthday Cake selection isn't already extensive enough with every flavour, every character and every size available, the Store have released quite a few NEW additions these past few weeks. Ones to particularly catch my eye were the domed Smash Cakes in Chocolate and Vanilla which both have a secret stash of goodies ready to bash into - What Kid, big or small doesn't want that on their Birthday?! Speaking of Birthdays and although it isn't officially hers until the 24th, I'm completely using MSW as an excuse for this purchase.. 

Of course, it's the NEW Custard Cream Cake! There was no chance of me picking any other! This bad boy of unknown weight, cost £7 which surprised me as I was under the impression that it would be £8 - Always happy to save a quid!

What a whopper! This cake takes the biscuit.. our spectacular sweet sponge, sandwiched with vanilla flavour buttercream and topped with soft icing - perfect with a cuppa!

WHAT A WHOPPER!, indeed. The cake certainly delivered aesthetically in looking exactly like it's mini, biscuit buddy with embellished writing and all. One thing I am not sure of though is how one would get 16 portions out of it. They really would be no bigger in size than the original biscuit!

Golly gosh, it cut beautifully - The knife slide through like butter with no need for the sawing motion, suggested on the box. As for the scent, it was nothing but heavenly with an uncanny similarity to Angel Cake combined with oodles of vanilla and a biscuity edge! 

Imagine the above slice cut into 4.. Because that is exactly what you would get if you were to oblige to the recommended serving - The picture shows 1/4 of the cake! By all means, don't go all out, halve it if necessary but surely anything less or heaven forbid 1/16th (In its entirety) wouldn't even be worth having!? It's absurd! Anyways, on to the eating and what everyone wants to know.. Does it actually taste of a Custard Cream? Well, I am happy to report that yes, it does and I am shell shocked after having expected just a plain vanilla cake! Unbeknownst to me how the flavour of said biscuit was actually achieved, I do know that the golden sponge itself was soft, light, moist and miles apart from some of the dense Madeira, you find in Supermarket bought, Birthday Cakes. Sandwiched between was a well proportioned layer of whipped buttercream to both compliment and heighten the vanilla tones superbly. Lastly was the layer of fondant covering the lot which was malleable yet still with bite.. Once again, it was more the generous in thickness as well as super sweet and delicious! The 3 simple elements went perfectly together as well as breaking up the texture to produce one yummy, biscuity, cake!

Blimey. I'm flabbergasted. Who would have thought that this Custard Cream Cake wouldn't just be a silly marketing ploy but actually taste of a Custard Cream? Not me that's for sure and I suspect I am not the only sceptic! I can barely fault this delight from Asda but will say, it is very sweet and a throat burn may occur if you have one to many mouthfuls.. But it still would only feed about 10 at a push! There is also a Bourbon version which I am now obviously extremely eager to try - If that too tastes of its biscuit namesake, I won't know what to do with myself! It's a cracking 4.5 out of 5 from me!

Review- Cadbury Flake Celebration Cake

You cannot have a Birthday without cake, it's a fact.. Heck, it's pretty much the law. Since I'm not one to break from either of those things, we're going big today to celebrate me being a whole year older.. It's a Cadbury Flake Cake! Ooooooo.. Chocolate. Happy Birthday, Me! 

I have been patiently waiting to buy said cake since my lovely NibsnScribs told me how amazing it was, way back when in September of last year. Unfortunately, it went walk about for a while but now it's firmly back (With delicious NEW sponge, just FYI) on most supermarket shelves - I purchased mine in Asda for a quite reasonable, £8. 

Chocolate sponge layered with chocolate flavour creme and a chocolate flavoured syrup, covered with milk chocolate and decorated with milk chocolate flake pieces and white and dark chocolate curls. 

The cake cut well to reveal the vertical stripes of sandwiched sponge which were all unnerving equal.. Suspicion always arises from anything that looks to perfect! Why the cake wasn't placed on a board though is anyones guess - It can hardly look presentable when it's just sat in a plastic tray.. Although it was good at catching any rogue pieces of chocolate! 

CAKE! Doesn't it look like a good'un? It smelt chocolatey and like it definitely wanted to be eaten. The sponge was super soft and moist with essentially the texture of a light swiss roll. There didn't appear to be much filling between each section at first but it transpired to be just the right amount of mousse like buttercream along with the syrup. Both had a good cocoa taste without being overly sweet with the latter having a slightly deeper flavour as well as being pleasantly smooth yet sticky. Coating the lot was just the right thickness of set chocolate that actually stayed on the cake rather than cracking and crumbling as I expected! It also surprisingly tasted a lot more like old school Dairy Milk but perhaps this was just due to the fact there was a lot going on. With the Flake pieces on top and sprinkling of curls, a final chocolatey hit came to round things off perfectly - Yum!

I always knew The Peanut was one smart cookie but blimey, she's out done herself here - This Cadbury Flake Celebration Cake is up there with the best.. If not, THE best bought Birthday, I've had. It's simple but done well and at the end of the day, you can't really ask for anymore than that.. And it will feed the serving suggestion of 12 at a stretch! I would be interested to see how much the sponge here differs from the old but can only assume it has been a change for the better - I can't find much fault! If it's your Birthday coming up, I highly recommend you get yourself one.. Or even better, make someone else do just that! It's a 4.5 out of 5 from me!