Fake Bakewell
tarts. This can only end one way, right?
Although not quite as sufficient as the lemon variety
found in stores around Eastertime, cherry Bakewells are a worthy satisfier of
my palate.
Because of this I was recently tricked into buying a
flapjack version of the traditional Bakewell tart from a work tuckshop. In
reality, the little stalls are designed for quick bites or emergencies, but I
was bored so literally the only option was to eat. This outlook on life
probably explains the colour of my teeth.
The flapjack was not some lovingly crafted, home baked
affair that had been flogged at a posh market for an exceptional price; no, it
was clearly designed merely to fill, containing precisely two billion calories
and three lorry loads of sugar (or about half a can of Coca-Cola).
Needless to say it was disgusting, flavourless and
contained no resemblance to actual cherry Bakewells. It was in fact a packet of
stodge.
This horrifying experience rather tainted my initial
perceptions of McVities Digestives flavoured with cherry Bakewell. But they
were a quid, so in that case anything goes.
To look at they were as innocent as any other chocolate
digestive biscuit; there was a thin spread of milk chocolate on one side, but
the majority of the thickened circle was wheat.
To my everlasting surprise the biscuit actually did
reveal a taste of cherry Bakewell. It was sweet, yet subtle enough to not
repulse – not just cherry, but a realistic almond mix too. It was clear that
the chocolate had been laced with the Bakewell taste because there were no
other genuine Bakewell features in the biscuit.
Perhaps it would have been apt for the biscuits to
contain more of a resemblance to the Bakewell brilliance – some cherry pieces
moulded into the biscuit or a white chocolate coating for instance. Appearance-wise,
then, it was more than a little dull; but the taste delivered a well-rounded
dedication to a British favourite – and focussed on a flavour wonderfully
different from the typical concoctions devised by unimaginative chocolate
executives.
Final review rating:
cherries to be kissed and circles to be nibbled – 3* out of 5.
Review by JAMES LEWIS
Wanderer, wonderer and editor of the Chocolate Dissection blog (which will ideally melt hearts rather than brains). Reliable with sarcasm, less so with a scalpel. Twitter: @IdeasJimboundReturn to homepage and read more reviews.
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