THIS BUG'S NO PEST (Tesco Chocolate Caterpillar Cake)

Member Name: wardenblw431

Product:	Tesco Chocolate Caterpillar Cake
Date:	07/07/05 (3869 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonable price, no artificial/synthetic taste, Kids will love it

Disadvantages: Won't feed a horde of guests, but plenty for small tums

My daughter has just celebrated her 8th birthday and the weeks leading up to it the dreaded words “birthday party” kept cropping up into conversation around the dinner table. Not wanting to disappoint my little cherub (ahem, yeah right) I set about planning a celebration never to be forgotten, as I knew that she was now nearing an age where birthday parties were seen to be uncool. This could be her last one and as she had asked so nicely how could I refuse.

As the big day got ever nearer, I was quite pleased as everything was coming along nicely. Following tradition, I had planned on making my own birthday cake for the hungry hordes of school children who had been invited, but somehow, time had managed to slip through my fingers and I found myself on the morning of the party well and truly cakeless. I thought that I would have plenty of time if I left it till the last minute, but I was wrong. Knowing that Gemma would be disappointed if I just chucked something together, I had to come up with a solution and fast.

Now, I am not a fan of shop bought birthday cakes at all, finding them overbearingly sickly and full of air and nasty additives, but on this occasion, I wasn’t in the position to be too fussy, so I had to give in and buy something that would go down a storm with the kids, if I had to scrape them all of the ceiling at the end of the afternoon, so be it. I was DESPERATE.

I dragged myself to our local supermarket, which is incidentally, Tesco and trundled over to their selection of celebration cakes. There was quite a good range of cakes to choose from; sponge, fruit, chocolate, and novelty type affairs. There were price tags to suit any budget ranging from value, cheaper recipes to the more exquisite celebratory cakes. You could pay up to about £12 if you so wished, but I ended up opting for Tesco’s Mr Caterpillar Chocolate novelty cake. Priced at just £4.99 it was middle of the range, so it would go down well with the kids, if nothing else.

The cake comes boxed in a cardboard outer with a clear plastic window so that you are able to see the contents. The box is a garish bright green that is obviously aimed at children, and this makes it eye-catching so it stands out a mile. Emblazoned across the box is a rather cute picture of a caterpillar character. Again, your kids will love it.

The packaging also screams out that Mr Caterpillar will provide 12 servings, but looking at him I am far from convinced. He is not that big, but I guess that once the children have been munching on other goodies, they won’t want too large a slice. For larger family members, I would say that you would be lucky to get 5 or six servings from this cake. If like me you normally like to plan ahead, then this cake can be purchased a couple of weeks before required. The shelf life was a good 3 weeks anyway, so ideal if you want to store it in your cupboard.

Now, down to the nitty gritty, the all-important nutritional information, if you can call it that. There is nothing nutritious about this cake, as the fat and calorie content makes stark reading. In one serving, or 1/12th if you like, there are 248 calories and 13.2g of fat. Quite horrific really, but as I bought it for a special occasion and don’t intend to buy it on a regular basis I won’t beat myself up over it. For those out there that suffer from particular allergies, then I must stress that this cake isn’t for you. Ingredients include egg, gluten, milk, Soya and wheat, and there is also a small possibility that there could be traces of nut as these are used throughout the factory in other products.

The cake itself is made from a sumptuous chocolate Swiss roll smothered in a layer of rich milk chocolate, and if that’s not enough darker chocolate is drizzled on the top giving Mr Caterpillar a ribbed effect. Dotted all over Mr Caterpillar’s back is a healthy sprinkling of what looks like Smartie sweets, but in fact they must be Tesco’s own version of sugar coated chocolate sweets as there is no mention of Nestle, on the box. For those serious chocoholics out there, it doesn’t end there. Across the caterpillar’s back chocolate-coated finger biscuits are neatly placed and for someone who doesn’t normally like shop bought cakes, I am quickly changing my mind.
Mr Caterpillar is a funny looking fellow and he even has 3 pairs of what looks to be tatty old boots on his feet. Even these are edible and they are made from coloured icing, his face is made up of the same icing and his facial expression is very cheery, far too happy for somebody that’s going to end up in someone’s tummy. As I removed the cake from the box, my nostrils began to stir as the sweet scent of chocolate filled the air.

Slicing into the cake was a dream, my taste buds were thrown into overdrive as the knife cracked through the crispy outer chocolate layer, sinking into the soft sponge centre before striking against the chocolate gold at the other side. Inside the cake there is another delight in the way of a rich, chocolaty, gooey fondant cream nestled between the sponge. Ok, so far so good, but the real test has to be in the test.

Not satisfied with all the “mmm’s” and “this is lovely, Mrs W”, I had to try it for myself and to say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Shop bought cakes in the past have always left a bad taste in my mouth, but Mr Caterpillar was different. The outer chocolate was incredibly smooth, sweet and very moreish, and seemed to compliment the soft, buttery sponge. Even the fondant cream gelled with the other ingredients, which surprised me as I was beginning to think that all this added up to one great big sickly cake. The sponge, although light was more substantial than that found in other novelty cakes, it wasn’t at all dry and didn’t stick to the root of your mouth as you try to swallow. It was perfect in all ways, light, buttery and not over-sweet, just how I like it.

As the party gradually drew to a close, Mr Caterpillar was soon all but gone, give or take a few little crumbs dotted here and there. Having always avoided cakes such as these in the past, it’s safe to say that I have been converted, and that I would happily buy one of these again.

Summary: All in all a super cake if in a hurry. Went down a storm in our house.