Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) popular caterpillar cake, known as Colin, has been superseded in a recent taste test. Over the years, this cake has become iconic in marking celebrations across Glasgow, but it seems there’s a new champion in town.
Consumer watchdog Which? conducted a blind taste test and declared Co-op’s caterpillar cake as the unequivocal winner. This victory was attributed to its perfect blend of chocolate, sponge, and buttercream elements.
The Co-op’s cake, named Charlie, costs £8 for a 660g portion and achieved a commendable score of 72 percent in the assessment. As a result, the cake was given the ‘Best Buy’ recommendation.
The cake had left the tasters in awe, wowing them with its intense chocolate flavor, moist sponge, and velvety buttercream.
Despite missing out on the top spot by a whisker, M&S’ Colin, priced at £8.50 for a 625g serve, also earned a ‘Best Buy’ recommendation with its score of 71 percent. Colin especially scored points with its superior sponge and delicious chocolatey flavor.
This taste test, highlighting M&S’s slip to second place, followed the supermarket’s legal dispute with Aldi. The issue revolved around the allegation that Aldi copied M&S’ Colin with their own ‘Cuthbert’ cake. Despite a long-standing legal battle and an undisclosed settlement, Aldi boldly advertised their product as akin to M&S but cheaper.
Caterpillar cakes from other supermarkets, such as Morrisons’ Morris the Caterpillar Cake and Sainsbury’s Wiggles the Caterpillar Cake, were also evaluated in the test. While Morris, coming in at £7.50 for 624g, scored 70 percent, Wiggles, costing £7.50 for 627g, tied in third place.
Meanwhile, Waitrose’s Cecil the Caterpillar Cake scored 69 percent. This caterpillar, priced at £8.50 for 720g, was deemed satisfactory in terms of the intensity of its chocolate flavor, sweetness, and its chocolate shell. However, about half the testers thought there was an excess of sponge compared to buttercream.
Aldi’s Cuthbert, the most affordable at £5.49 for 625g, got a rating of 68 percent, followed closely by Tesco’s Slinky the Caterpillar Cake and Asda’s Letty.
Commenting on the results of the taste test, Natalie Hitchins from Which? suggested that one doesn’t have to splurge to get the best tasting caterpillar cake. Co-op’s Charlie the Caterpillar offers a rich chocolate flavor and abundant buttercream at a budget-friendly price.
Nicole Tallant from Co-op expressed her delight over the results, stating, “We’re thrilled that Which? has settled the big caterpillar cake debate and named Co-op as being the best tasting on the high street for the second time.”
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