These Jaffas Rule The Roost! (Sainsburys Basics Jaffa Cakes)

Member Name: GramiWay

Product:	Sainsburys Basics Jaffa Cakes
Date:	22/06/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, very tasty

Disadvantages: Packaging, fat content

Well those of you that have read the very few food reviews I do post know by now that I very rarely buy any of the big name brands when shopping. Being a student of course, I believe in a budget and see no point in wasting money on something that tastes just as good as something in a more attractive packet that costs more. However, you have to weed out the own supermarket products that are good obviously and the ones that are just plain nasty and therefore require a more expensive purchase.

I hadn't had Jaffa Cakes in a very long time until a friend of mine offered me some of Tesco's own value and I remembered just how amazing they tasted. So when doing a weekly shop round Sainsburys, I noticed their basics jaffa cakes and decided to dive in head first and see whether they had that magical touch.

Sainsburys offer 24 jaffa cakes for only 60p which I didn't think was too bad. The packaging is the usual style for supermarket own brand products. The jaffa cakes come in a rectangular box which is completely white in colour save the orange writing on top illustrating that they belong to the Sainsburys Basics range. The orange is rather attractive against the white background, but these could easily be missed when browsing the shelf and weren't really anything to get excited about on the basis of their packaging.

Also on the box is all the usual nutritional information which lets you know how much fat and calories and what not are contained within one jaffa cake. All the ingredients and health and safety details are also there and stand out, making them easy to read against the plain white background.

Once you have them home and have opened the box you are greeted with two very simple packets of jaffa cakes. There are twelve in each one and you can see them as the wrapping is plastic and see through and the cakes look very inviting from inside their latest prison.

The jaffa cakes are a simple design. A top layer of chocolate with a very foamy, sponge base and a burst of tangy, orange squirted in between them. As soon as you open the plastic wrapping you are hit by that gorgeous blend of chocolate and orange both working together to entice your taste buds. The jaffa cakes are probably a tad smaller than the Mcvities variety but are still great for dunking in your tea or coffee or just eating normally.

The taste on the other hand is on fine form and you find yourself overwhelmed by the strength of it. For such a cheap alternative the chocolate hits you first, dancing around your throat and then making way for the softer, yet fruitier ensemble of the orange filling. The sponge manages to round things off nicely as you're not left with a too sickly feeling in your throat. Their small size means that you can easily demolish one of the packets in a few minutes if you're not careful as the jaffas leave a void in your taste buds, demanding more.

The Sainsburys basic range is definitely the best of the three main supermarket own brands. These jaffa cakes are very cheap and taste just as nice, if not the same as more expensive versions. Their size is questionable but that's not really a big issue as the overall taste and product satisfaction is still brilliant. I won't bore you with the nutritional information and such but will point out that just one of the little spheres of joy contains 42 calories so do be careful if you get the urge to cram them!

Summary: A great alternative to save a few pennies