A lovely crust does not a Bakewell Tart make! (Marks & Spencer Bakewell Tart)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Marks & Spencer Bakewell Tart
Date:	18/02/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A lovely buttery pasty crust

Disadvantages: A strange flavour, short dated, very small in relation to the size of the box

Last weekend when I had a £5 Marks & Spencer giftcard I decided to go and spend it so I could get rid of the card and free up some room in my purse. Now, a fiver doesn't go far in this particular shop as you all know so instead of even attempting to be a savvy shopper I went straight for the more expensive desserts that usually I'd baulk at paying M&S prices for.

The first thing I saw I had to have, a Marks & Spencer Bakewell Tart which I cut up to share with my granddaughters' as they were with me that day.

All I can say is what a disappointment! The Bakewell Tart has a very unusual flavour which I cannot quite put my finger on, the undercurrent flavour is almost like apricot jam which in itself is not a terribly stange addition to the tart but this has a funny sour flavour which doesn't blend well with the sweetness of the actual tart.

The pastry on this Bakewell Tart is delicious, the best thing about it actually. It's light, flakey and deliciously buttery. The rim was crumbling as I cut into it and even the crumbs were filled with an intense flavour of butter, I know because I dipped my finger in the crumbs several times - all in the prevention of waste, of course!

The filling is nice and solid, but with a soft texture which is normal for this kind of pudding. It tasted fairly fruity and this also had quite a buttery flavour, there's a vague taste of almonds which isn't very obvious until the aftertaste of each mouthful comes through. There's a good sprinkling of almonds on the top of the tart although I didn't find these as fresh and flavoursome as I thought I would. Frankly I prefer the mass produced branded Bakewell Tarts which have more flavour and are also a good deal cheaper to buy.

You can eat this one hot or cold, it takes about 5 minutes to warm the tart through in the oven but to be honest this doesn't really make a great deal of difference to the flavour and I found it much easier to serve the tart cold and pour hot custard over it to heat it through slightly. When warm the lovely crust goes hard too, which is a definite disadvantage as the crust is the best part of the pudding!

I honestly do not think this Bakewell Tart is worth the £2.49 I paid for it, and I never thought I'd ever hear myself say that about the usually very high quality Marks & Spencer. Another thing which annoyed me was the fact that this tart comes in quite a large box, but once I had removed the foil container which holds the tart I realised it was much smaller than the outer had led me to believe. None of us are big pudding eaters so only had a smallish slice each, yet this tart only served the three of us with a small sliver left over for later on.

Also, these tarts have a very short shelf life so don't imagine you can buy one at the beginning of the week for the weekend. Mine was dated for the following day and many of the tarts on display actually had to be eaten that day so do have a look at the 'use by' date before buying. Actually, don't bother buying it just head to Sainsbury's for a cheaper and tastier Bakewell Tart.

Summary: One of the very few Marks & Spencer products I haven't been impressed with.