Date with a Flake (Cadbury's Flake)

Member Name: DaisyDuck

Product:	Cadbury's Flake
Date:	14/02/05 (2046 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nothing else quite like it

Disadvantages: Messy

Only the crumbliest flakiest chocolate, tasted like chocolate never tasted before. Remember that? Well I suppose they were right, flake is different, you might say superior, from any other chocolate bars, including new pretenders to its crown such as Galaxy Ripple.
The combination of texture and Cadburys milk chocolate make it a unique experience, the tree bark texture melting in the mouth to become sticky and slightly grainy the way only Cadbury milk chocolate does.

Now you might wonder how on earth Cadbury came up with the idea of selling a bar made up of flakes of chocolate. Well according to my research, a machine operator noticed the folds of chocolate that built up at the sides of the moulding machines, and this was the germ of the idea. Production started in 1911 and Flake is still a very popular product today.

Many of us will be able to picture the 'Flake girl' of the TV advertisements, the one in the poppy field, or maybe the girl in the bath. These images were aimed at women, as young women are the targets to buy this product, but as the images were mildly erotic it is not surprising that forty percent of Flake consumers are men.

The bar itself is made with Cadbury's milk chocolate, and consists of lots of folds or flakes pressed into a stick shape , similar to log.
The wrapping has been yellow with purple script for as long as I can remember, but is now foil instead of thin cellophane.

How to eat it without getting covered in little bits of chocolate?. This can be a real problem. As a child I would just bite into it and not worry how much mess I made, and my little daughter who is five, just attacks it and then brushes any residue off her clothes and onto the carpet.

But for me a Flake is not a quick bar for refuelling like a Mars or Snickers, its something to be eaten slowly either in private or with a very close friend. So make a date with your Flake and possibly try one of these approaches.

I gave up on just biting a piece off once my breasts developed. The reason being that the little flakes would drop into my cleavage and melt on contact with warm skin, if I didn't wipe it off straight away, things got very sticky and uncomfortable, but you can't clear out debris from your cleavage in polite company can you?
Another option is to catch the crumbs in your hand, but then what to do with them, lick them off, or wipe them down behind the cushions of your Mother-in -Laws new sofa?
Then we get to the method similar to the erotic adverts trying to bite and suck at the same time so all the bits go in your mouth or at least stick to your lips. If you can pull this one off, do it, you could pull at the same time, but if it causes you to cough or dribble , don't, it is not attractive.
Finally we get to my favourite and least wastefull way to eat a Flake. Break it into pieces BEFORE you unwrap it, then carefully lift out and eat each piece, then if no one is looking make the wrapper into a chute and funnel the crumbs into your mouth. This way you will remain clean and keep a sense of decorum.

So we have explored the Flake, but we must not forget it's little brother or sister the smaller Flake known as the 99. This smaller version was introduced in the 1930's and was primarily used to enhance the humble ice cream cornet, and also to decorate cakes and desserts.
Apparently it was called the 99, as the majority of whippy ice cream merchants at the time were Italian, and as the King of Italy had an elite bodyguard of 99 soldiers, the number 99 meant high quality to the Italians.

Flakes large or small are great for breaking up and sprinkling onto desserts and cakes, and really nice in hot chocolate. One of my favourite indulgences is to make a cup of hot chocolate add a little dark rum, a squish of squirty cream and then dip a flake into it. The Flake melts a little and dunking it into the drink and then licking of the cream and melted chocolate is a moment of real pleasure.

So there we have it the Cadbury's Flake an indulgent, unique, messy and versatile chocolate bar, it has been with us for about 90 years, and will probably continue for many more.

The price around 40 pence for a large Flake and £1.25 for a box of 16 smaller 99's.

Enjoy Daisy :)

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