Cake mixes with ready weighed ingredients are becoming more and more common, this year I received Christmas cake kits from several supermarkets for testing.
Part of me does not really see the point – you still need scales as with all three kits you need to weigh the butter out (although I expect you could fairly accurately eyeball it) – and you still need a cake tin. But, the kits do allow you to make the cake in one step, without having to soak the fruit 24 hours in advance, and, if you are not a baker you do not end up with part packets of the various ingredients.
The Kits & Cakes
I assembled my team of testers and labeled the cakes A, B & C, so no one knew which was which.
Firstly we were surprised at how different they all looked, Delia’s from Waitrose was certainly the most perfect looking, Sainsbury’s the most rustic with Marry Berry from Tesco somewhere in the middle.
All the kits are currently on offer, and price per 75g slice was between 29 – 40p.
Kit prices were priced from £14.99 to £10, (all needed between £1.61 to £2.54 of additional ingredients). Currently all kits are on offer at lower prices.
Mary Berry from Tesco was the only kit which included marzipan and royal icing for decoration, and is currently the cheapest at £5.
Delia Smith From Waitrose
Delia’s Classic Christmas Cake – Waitrose
Kit Cost = £10 (currently on offer at £7.50)
Additional ingredients = £2.54
(225g butter, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 5 eggs)
Total Cost of Cake= £12.54
Baked Weight 1880g
Delia Classic Christmas Cake – Waitrose – Slice
Cost per 75g slice = 50p (offer price =40p)
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Christmas Cake
Kit Cost = £14.99 (currently on offer at £5)
Additional ingredients = £1.61
(170g butter, 1 lemon, 3 eggs)
Total Cost of Cake=£16.60
Baked Weight 1680g
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Christmas Cake Slice
Cost per 75g slice = 74p (offer price = 29p)
Mary Berry from Tesco
Mary Berry’s Traditional Christmas Cake – Tesco
Kit Cost = £10.00 (currently on offer at £5)
Additional ingredients = £2.28
(210g butter, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 4 eggs)
Total Cost of Cake=£12.28
Baked Weight 1630g
Mary Berry Traditional Christmas Cake – Tesco – Slice
Cost per 75g slice = 56p (offer price = 33p)
Tasting
Delia Smith From Waitrose
We all agreed that this cake looked the best, perfect in fact, and several of the group guessed it was Delia’s from its appearance. The cake was also deemed the booziest. The testers found it contained too many currants, and lacked texture and contrast. By and large we found it too sharp and citrusy, with a slightly burnt aftertaste.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference
Looked chunky, dense and really homemade or rustic. The testers comments were although fruity it needed some more booze, and the cake was a little boring and nothing special.
Mary Berry from Tesco
A pretty paler golden in colour. We like the levels of spice and the rounded flavour. This cake was the palest and also contained the least fruit. Texure was not too dense.
The clear winner and agreed by the entire group was Mary Berry from Tesco, with Delia second.
* Cost of additional ingredients
Butter £1.10 250g (Waitrose Essentials / Sainsbury’s Basics)
Oranges & Lemons 30p each
Eggs 19p each (Sainsbury’s Family Free Range)
Many thanks to my testers, and to the supermarkets for the cake kits, I am still eating Christmas cake, and come the 25th will not want any.
I have bought Deliahs and Mary Berry’s. I found Deliahs was very moist and when I made Mary Berrys it seemed jsut right. Deliahs is too moist I think and I am not sure if the family will entertain it!
I am astonished at just how different they all are. Mary Berry was the very clear winner.
I’ve just made a Mary Berry Tesco one for my husband’s Grandparents – it looks really yummy and I was impressed that there was marzipan and icing in the kit too.
Loved the Mary Berry one. Apparently you can pick them up now for £2!
I followed the instructions of the Mary Berry’s Christmas cake. However,when I opened the oven door after 4 hrs, I found what looked like a large piece of coal instead of a nice fruit cake. What did I do wrong?
You need to check after 2 hours, despite what it says, and really insulate the cake tin in several layers of newspaper.
Also invest in an oven thermometer and use the temperature on that. Most oven thermostats are deeply unreliable. It is good investment of only about £5.