A Christmas cake to make the world a better place (Fairtrade Iced Christmas Cake)

Member Name: HonestBob

Product:	Fairtrade Iced Christmas Cake
Date:	29/12/08 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You know the producers have benefited.

Disadvantages: Pricey, not as rich as other shop bought cakes

I received this cake as part of a Traidcraft hamper. A lovely gift and one that I shall probably review separately.

It's not a huge cake, measuring 17cm in diameter, but sufficient for a family in which most people don't actually like Christmas cake and only have a small slither to maintain tradition. The cake is simply presented, on a round silver base and trimmed with red ribbon around the outside and a red, gold edged bow on top.

I say that most people in my family don't like Christmas cake, but this statement does not apply to me. I love it! I like a rich dark cake with a bit of bite, thick icing and a thin coating of marzipan. Thin, marzipan because this is the part of the cake I dislike and I have been known to peel the icing off, attempt to remove the marzipan from it and then restick the icing to my cake!

I really wanted to be able to give this cake a positive review. It was purchased from traidcraft whose slogan is 'Fighting poverty through trade' and this is an organisation that I support. It seems particularly fitting at Christmas, a time when we get sucked into commercialism and tend to forget about the lives of the producers of our goods, that at least something on my Christmas table has helped others less fortunate in some way. For this reason I have to give it five stars to start off with. The final star rating will come from the cutting experience, taste test and price.

Cutting experience:

The cake fights back as you cut into it, as all good Christmas cakes should, however, the centre crumbles away and it is difficult to cut a tidy slice. Inside, the cake is disappointingly light in colour, plus points for the thinness of the marzipan layer but this is negated by the even thinner layer of icing. At first glance there is an even ratio of fruit to cake, fair enough, but I prefer my Christmas cake fruity. I am disappointed by the smell of the cake. It does not have the pungent richness of other cakes I have tried.

Taste Test:

The cake is pleasantly moist (and remains so for the five days that it takes us to finish it). It does not crumble immediately on chewing so is a pleasant eat. The thin layer of icing ensures that each bite is not overpoweringly sweet, but this cake cannot compare to home made cake for richness. I'm guessing a 'dash of brandy' as described on the packaging wasn't enough. The ingredients (which I will not bore you by listing) include 8% glacier cherries. They must have chopped them very finely because I haven't spotted any. Overall, this is little more than a fruit cake dressed up for the occasion.

Price:

Bought separately from traidcraftshop.co.uk this initially retailed at £9.95 but is currently on sale for £4.95. If buying the cake myself I would pay the sale price, but not the full.


Would I buy this cake again?

Well, it was a gift in the first place, and a well considered one. Despite my complaints I would buy it for my family. It is the only Christmas cake that my children would eat this year. They take one look at the darker versions and turn their noses up. I also like to think that the centre piece of our Christmas tea has helped, in some small way, other families somewhere in the world. That's what the spirit of Christmas should be about after all.

Summary: Good for a family with young children who don't enjoy the strong taste of some Christmas cakes