It’s officially cosy season which means pumpkin spice lattes are officially on the menu of your local coffee shop and The Great British Bake Off is back on the telly, providing the ultimate comfort content we all need on a Tuesday evening.
This week was biscuit week, and while I won’t give away any star baker spoilers just in case you’re not caught up yet, I can tell you that this week's technical saw the 11 contestants attempt to make a selection of Garibaldi biscuits.
The challenge has inspired this week’s supermarket taste test, to see if Tesco, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s or Asda would be able to earn themselves a Hollywood handshake if put head to head in the tent.
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I had planned to also pick up packs from Aldi and Lidl, but was disappointed to find neither stores stock the biscuit otherwise known as a ‘squashed fly’ biscuit, due to its fruity appearance. Aldi have missed a trick there, really, seeing as the store name is in the name of the snack.
During the show, Prue Leith caused a bit of a stir when she asked the bakers to add chocolate to their bakes. @Ariadne_Reviews tweeted: "We're all about to send Prue Leith to jail for making them put chocolate on a Garibaldi biscuit. Is this the united nation we've been promised all week? #gbbo #BakeOff."
@hello_selo said: "Chocolate? On a Garibaldi??? I'm calling Ofcom. This is an outrage #bakeoff #GBBO." @LawAspi wrote: "Watching #bakeoff and that is NOT. Garibaldi biscuit! @PrueLeith." @OwenWintersgill posted: "Who would ruin Garibaldi biscuits by putting chocolate on them? #bakeoff."
The supermarket biccies didn’t feature any chocolate, feathering OR feathers, but in true Bake Off style, I ranked them worst to best - and there’s one that would definitely win Star Baker for appearance, texture and flavour. Here’s what I found when I tried Garibaldi biscuits from five different supermarkets.
Price and pack size
All of the packets of Garibaldi biscuits I picked up came in 200g packs, each containing four neat rows of five biscuits, which you have to gently prise away from one another. A total of 20 biscuits per pack, there was a whopping 35p price difference between the cheapest and most expensive biscuits - and the dearest supermarket might surprise you.
Marks and Spencer, Asda and Sainsbury’s all came in cheapest, costing just 90p per pack, while Tesco was 20p more at £1.10, and Morrisons the highest priced at £1.25 per pack - around six pence per biscuit.
Appearance
Eying the line up like Paul and Prue, I instantly noticed that Sainsbury’s biscuits were a bit thicker than the rest - but only time would tell if that was a result of more fruit or more flour.
Meanwhile, Tesco’s biscuit looked more golden, having spent a fraction longer in the oven, while Morrison’s were on the pale side and could have done with a little bit longer.
The currants were pretty well concealed in all of the biscuits, although a few peeked out of the sides and speckles could be seen from above. At a first glance, M&S’s looked to be the fruitiest - but it would all come down to taste in the end.
Taste
Tesco and Sainsburys’ biscuits both had a satisfying ‘snap’ and a good crunch, Tesco’s in particular had a really nice texture, but slightly less fruit than some of the other biscuits, so were a little bit drying.
On the complete other end of the scale were Asda and Morrisons, both of which were more soft and moist, bending before breaking, rather than snapping into two. Asda’s was more pleasant to eat than Morrisons, because for me, the Morrisons Garibaldi tasted a little bit cheap, and almost dissolved in the mouth before you got chance to chew - it’s safe to say that it wasn’t a dunker.
In contrast, Marks and Spencer’s own brand Garibaldi got the fruit to biscuit ratio just right, offering a really nice fruity flavour on the tongue, a good crunch but also a soft, butteriness, too.
Verdict
It was quite close between Sainsbury’s and M&S, because both biscuits were very tasty. I have to admit I didn’t think myself a fan of Garibaldis - I’m more a custard cream girl myself - but I was pleasantly surprised by the tea accompanying snack.
Ultimately, it all came down to value for money, and with M&S biscuits being the cheapest and one of the best tasting, they’re the ones worthy of a Bethan Shufflebotham handshake this week. It’s not quite the same as one from Paul Hollywood, but it’ll have to do!
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