When browsing the cake decorating aisle in Asda looking for inspiration of how to decorate my daughters' 13th birthday cake I saw these brightly coloured candles which looked like they could be far more fun and vibrant than the normal run of pastel coloured candles. The fact that they promised to have coloured flames as well, would, I thought add, an extra bit of excitement when it came to light them. Along with a packet of brightly coloured jelly beans and some coloured balls I had high hopes that I could make a fitting cake for a newly turned teenager, and the positive comments from her friends seemed to confirm that the candles had helped to achieve this.

The candles come in a small rectangular box (12x10x1cm), much like you would get colouring crayons in, with a slot cut out through which the candle colours could be seen. The box is purple with a wealth of colored stars and swirls and the flames drawn above the slot are in colours to match the candles that they are above, emphasizing the print that states that the flames burn the colour of the candle. They are made by Home2Bake which I had not heard of before, but contact details are given as well as instructions for how to use them and a safety warning about dripping wax and keeping out of reach of children. Inside the box the candles are protected by a ridged clear plastic pocket.

The twelve candles are divided into four colours - three of an orangey pink colour, three of a dark yellow, three of a turquoisy green and lastly three grass green. It seemed a bit strange having two shades of green but the colours did work well together. One of the things that I found particularly good with these was that they don't have separate candle holders; I have a box full of these and I always find it a bit of a pain trying to find a matching set. These candles are set into a clear plastic circular socket which then becomes a prong which you stick directly into the cake. This prong is 4cm deep so sits very securely in the cake. All but one of my candles were snugly fitted into their holder and felt safe, although you can pull them out to keep if you wish too - mine are heading for the bin though as I can see no further need for them. It does not say that they are recyclable although the outer box is.

Another positive to this type of holder is that it seems far less girly than the normal floral holders and was much better suited to a teenager. I think that I would be happy to use them for a boy too. The candles themselves seem an average height of 5cm.

**Lighting Up Time**

Nobody seemed to notice my error of only having twelve candles on a thirteen year olds cake - should have brought a second pack - ooops! Twelve candles was quite a lot to light in one go, but fortunately most of them lit up first time and the wick seemed to be a good length. I watched quite eagerly as they burst into flame, expecting vivid flickering lights to appear. They looked pretty yellow and normal to me, but maybe they needed time to warm up. We let them burn down for a short while and peered closely at the flames. If you searched closely a feint tingle could just be discerned, the orangey pink one being the most noticeable. My daughter has pronounced them very disappointing candles as she had seen the packet and was expecting something special to happen on the top of her cake. They seemed to burn down very rapidly. Sometimes I get away with using a candle for a second time but I only have about 3cm of wax left after just over a minute of burning.

The pack of twelve candles cost £1.97 in Asda. That works out at just over 16p per candle. Compared to their most basic pack of 10 candles with white floral holders this is obviously quite expensive. I wouldn't buy them again for the flame effect, but if you didn't have this expectation, I do think that they are a good colour selection and help to create a cheerful and fun cake, so I will probably end up buying them again.