We tried Victoria sponges from every supermarket and picking the winner was a piece of cake
11.06.2023 - 16:57
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The humble Victoria sponge is quite probably the most quintessential British cake.
Named after Queen Victoria, who was said to regularly enjoy a slice of the cake with her tea, it's now one of the most widely worshipped cakes.
The classic is a favourite at all times of year, but particularly popular during the warmer months when people are looking for something a little lighter on the table.
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But which one is worth splashing out on? We decided to put them to the test, buying the sponge from each of the main supermarkets - Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, M&S and Lidl. It was only Aldi which didn't have one available.
Here's what we thought...
Appearance
A quick glance through the little cellophane window of each box shows how different they are, with the Tesco and Asda ones having plainer tops, the latter barely anything on it at all.
While Lidl, Sainsbury's and M&S all have varying amounts of icing dusted over the top, Tesco and Morrisons are scattered with real sugar, or 'a sweet dusting' as they call it.
They're all a standard circle shape but there are subtle differences, like the dome shape top to Tesco's, Morrisons' jagged edges, giving more of a homemade look to it, and the raised edge around Asda's making it look a little bit like a giant pork pie.
They've all got a layer of jam and cream inside, but it's not that visible on some of them - with Tesco, Lidl and M&S you can hardly see it at all.
Size
With our previous carrot cake, chocolate cake and lemon cake taste tests - can you tell we like cake? - you couldn't really notice much size difference at all, with weights varying from 400g to 430g.
But the size difference with these seems