Have your cake (or biscuit?) and eat it ... (Mc Vities Jaffa Cakes)

Member Name: Fantasybeliever

Product:	Mc Vities Jaffa Cakes
Date:	26/06/04 (1300 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, Zesty, Low in Calories

Disadvantages: Highly Addictive, Slightly expensive

***Intro***
Jaffa Cakes have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Mind you, I didn?t rightly like them as a bairn, I seem to recall! But I think that?s because they are quite a sophisticated adult taste really, but then that?s my opinion! Lots of manufacturers have tried to copy the humble jaffa cake, but I don?t think anyone does it as well as McVities. Either the ?sponge? is too dry, or the chocolate not thick enough ? but McV Jaffa Cakes = perfection! McVitie?s is a brand owned by United Biscuits, who manufacturer loads of other brands like McVities Digestives, Penguin, etc. As the name of the parent company might suggest, they are expert biscuit makers!


***The Packaging***
I was shopping in Tesco today and I was shopping whilst hungry, had had no breakfast, and my blood sugar must have taken a dive (that?s my excuse anyway), so I was wandering along the aisles and saw this promotion on Jaffa Cakes (from here on in called JCs). Not your ordinary packet of JCs but the tubes of JCs that have appeared in the last couple of years. Not entirely sure what the difference is other than you get 3 more biscuits (hmmm ? I?ll talk about that definition in a moment), i.e. you get 15 in a standard tube rather than 12 in a packet! The tubes are very attractive and eyecatching with the standard blue of the JC cardboard box and the wonderfully orangey writing, but with a huge slogan of ?Here Today, Gone Today? and ?You Always Want More? stamped all over it. I?m not quite sure what material the tube is made from ? I think it is still a cardboard, but a high quality one. The best thing I can compare it to is a tub of Peanuts or Cheesy Footballs ? you know, those things you get around Christmas
time in a kind of laminated cardboard tub? The orange lid is plastic, but I can?t see anywhere on the tube that tells me this packaging is suitable for recycling. That lets the product down a little in my estimation!

I also like the hum
our of the packaging and the fact that they have a Jaffaholics Anonymous Helpline ? I might try and call it tomorrow and see what happens!

***The Price***
Well, these were on promotion in Tesco. The RRP in Tesco was 86p per tube, but they were offering 2 tubes for 99p, which is a massive saving of 73p. So into my little basket they went at the speed of light! At 86p per tube this works out at 5.7p per ?biscuit?, but at 99p for 2 tubes, this decreases to an amazing 3.3p per ?biscuit? ? a veritable bargain!

***The Product***
In the interests of research and writing this review now I have to consume some ? such a hardship (em ? who am I trying to kid?)

As I remove a couple from the tube, I?m hit by the rich, intense smell of cocoa from the wonderful thick layer of deliciously dark chocolate on the topside of the biscuit. The spongy bit ? and it IS spongy ? smells a little to me like a farley?s rusk and believe me it?s a long while since I had one of those!

I sink my teeth into a JC and immediately taste the bitterness of the dark chocolate, but beautifully complimented by an not overly sweet sponge, which actually even tastes a bit like a farley?s rusk! And by the tanginess of the jelly like orangey centre. It really is a wonderfully explosive taste sensation that lingers on the tastebuds and leaves you wanting more and more and more ???. How many did I eat for this review; I?m NOT telling!

And believe it or believe it not, they?re not that bad for dieters ? if you can control your consumption (I
;?ll pass on that one!) cos each JC contains only 46 cals and 0.5 of saturated fat. How wonderful! So you could really eat around half a dozen of these without doing too much damage.

These are suitable for vegetarians, but not vegans as they contain eggs, but I can?t tell if they?re suitable for nut allergy sufferers, so may be safest to give them a miss.

I?m also impressed that these little be
auties contain 8% concentrated orange juice; now that?s pretty cool.

***Biscuit/Cake Debate***
I don?t know if you will recall but a few years ago (OK probably several now), there was a raging debate about whether a JC was a biscuit or a cake, as they were sold in the biscuit aisles of supermarkets and other stores, yet had cake in the product description.

The debate occurred because apparently cakes are a VATable product but biscuits are not.

After the debate raged awhile, a decision was taken that the product was a biscuit and all was well that ends well.

My opinion ? well actually, I?m not sure. I think they taste more cake like than biscuit like? After all, I expect biscuits to be crunchy, not soft, and the base of a jaffa cake is definitely sponge and not biscuit? So don'? ask me how the decision was reached ? I am after all only a humble consumer. However, if by remaining a biscuit, it means I pay less for it then ?Yay? I say!

***Conclusion***
These are a high quality chocolately, luxuriously indulgent product with a long lasting taste sensation. My problem is that they are highly addictive, and I can quite easily consume a whole packet in one sitting, without feeling nauseous in the slightest ? an admission that I?m slightly ashamed to make!

If you haven?t had a jaffa cake for a while, and you shop at Tesco ? then go on, indulge
yourself.

Jaffaholics Anonymous
0500 011710

Thanks for reading.

Christina ;-) x

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