Roll it Away (Tesco Jam Roly Poly)

Member Name: yummy87

Product:	Tesco Jam Roly Poly
Date:	14/10/03 (273 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Cheap watery jam, Pudding tastes like cardboard

My grandmother made the best jam roly poly. Mine is not bad but stodgy puddings are not something we have a lot at home due to the high content of fat and calories.

Although packaged desserts are something I rarely buy, my daughter asked me if we could buy a packet of the Roly Poly, whilst shopping recently, so we picked one up and bought it home to sample. The dessert cost £1.99 from Tesco.

The Roly Poly can be found in the chiller cabinet, together with the fresh cream cakes, and is packed in a red, rectangular shaped, cardboard box. A picture of a delicious looking piece of jam roly poly on a plate, surrounded by a pool of ruby red jam, dominates the front of the packaging. The product weighs 360g and is suitable for home freezing.

The packaging assures the consumer that not only is raspberry jam used in the production, but also raspberry puree, so I looked forward to an explosion of a slightly tart, liquid, raspberry filling, when eating the dessert. However, on reading further, there is also the addition of mixed fruit jam, which is slightly surprising. The dessert is suitable for vegetarians.

The Roly Poly can only be microwaved, and not cooked in a conventional oven, which was a slight disappointment, as I could not see how the product would be crisp on the top when ready to eat.

On opening the outer box, I was very surprised to see that the jam roly poly is not in fact a whole one, it is in fact cut into four slices. It does state this clearly on the packaging, but I did not look before picking it up. The Roly Poly is packaged in a plastic container, with a layer of plastic film on the top. The appearance didn?t set me alight either. The roly poly was a very unpleasant grey colour and looked as though it was going to be very hard and rough to the touch. Although there was a generous portion of jam, it looked very thin and watery, and was bright pink, not blushing red, as I had imagined.

After cooking in t
he microwave, for about minute and a half, and then leaving the dessert to stand, we served it with lashings of custard.

Unfortunately, after cooking, the Roly Poly did not look any more appetising. The end slice had sunk into the watery jam, which had turned it bright pink, so now we had three grey slices and a pink one. The smell was not particularly appetising either, sort of a doughy smell, with undertones of a bargain basement squash drink.

The outside of the roll was quite quite slimy, and the inside quite soft. The taste was bland, with just a faint doughy aftertaste, and the jam was devoid of flavour. It tasted as bad as it looked. Cheap, watery, and definitely no raspberry flavour was apparent. In fact, it tasted like a cheap cordial drink. As the taste of this was so revolting, I begrudge the 338kcal and 12.5g each 3 ½ oz portion would provide. At least if I?m going to put on weight, I would like it to be because I had eaten something tasty. As each small slice cost me 50p, I will not be buying it again.

I wouldn?t recommend this at all. Don't be fooled by the picture on the box. Make one yourself, and use good quality jam.

Summary: