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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Business
Emma Gill

We tried Swiss roll from every supermarket and one was so awful we spat it out

Swiss roll, cream roll, roll cake, whatever you want to call it, there are all kinds of flavours these days.

Eaten for generations, it's a pretty cheap dessert, which makes it all the more appealing in the current climate.

And when the weather has been as warm as it has of late, it's also a lighter option to share after a meal, or whenever the mood takes you.

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We tried Swiss roll from every supermarket (Manchester Family/MEN)

But even though none of them exactly break the bank, you want to make sure your money is well spent.

That's why we took it upon ourselves to buy one from every supermarket, to see exactly which ones are worthy of a slot on your table.

We ended up with eight in all - from Asda, M&S, Morrisons, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Tesco and two from Aldi, picking up its basic and Specially Selected versions.

Here's what we thought...

Appearance

While six came in boxes, two of the retailers - Morrisons and Lidl - had just the jumbo cellophane wrapped ones available, the latter standing out with its swirly chocolate pattern along the top.

The cheaper packaging also meant it pulled the top layer off the Morrisons one as it had stuck to the cake.

Out of the boxes, the other six don't look too dissimilar, just visibly more sugar on the top of the rolls from Sainsbury's and M&S.

They're all a pretty standard log roll shape, with varying amounts of filling. While the cream and jam was oozing out of the Tesco one, Aldi's Specially Selected roll appeared to have very little jam at all.

The line-up (Manchester Family/MEN)

Size

The jumbo ones from Lidl and Morrisons are obviously a lot bigger, at around 400g each, while the box ones range from around 245g to 275g and serve between six and eight, depending on the size of your slice of course.

It's not the heaviest, but the Sainsbury's one looks the chunkiest of them all, while Aldi's basic cake seemed a little flat in comparison.

Texture and taste

Just like the Victoria sponge cakes we tested recently, the two flavours at play here are strawberry and raspberry.

The majority have gone with strawberry this time though, only Sainsbury's and Aldi's basic version featuring the latter.

Sainsbury's , left, was the chunkiest of the box cakes, but nobody liked the crunchy sugar top (Manchester Family/MEN)

There's much more variety to the filling than that though.

From buttercream and clotted cream, to clotted cream flavoured buttercream, the list goes on - and there's no doubt that the six box cakes featuring those are the tastiest.

The flavoured artificial 'filling' in the two jumbo rolls is really rather grim and makes neither worth eating.

Both sponges were dry and the 'sweet strawberry flavoured crème filling' inside Lidl's roll was particularly nasty.

Lidl's was awful (Manchester Family/MEN)

In fact we struggled to eat it at all. Some managed just a bite, others actually spat it out.

As for the other six, there were no huge complaints. The main grumbles were about Sainsbury's dry sponge and crunchy sugared top, Aldi's Specially Selected and Asda's being too bland, the former having more cream than jam and vice versa for the latter.

Aldi's basic one actually ranked higher - a nice moist sponge, but let down slightly by the jam being just a bit too rich.

M&S took a comfortable second place, a light sponge with just the right amount of everything.

The winning Swiss roll (Manchester Family/MEN)

But there was one we all agreed deserved the top spot and that was Tesco's.

The clotted cream flavoured buttercream was a pure delight. If it wasn't for the softness of the sponge, it would have been like eating a classic cream scone.

At £1.75, the price is mid-range. But when it comes to taste and value for money, it would be a crime to suggest this cake is in any way average.

Tesco took the crown (Manchester Family/MEN)

Prices

  • Asda £2.20

  • M&S £2

  • Tesco £1.75

  • Morrisons £1.70

  • Sainsbury's £1.60

  • Aldi Specially Selected £1.49

  • Lidl £1.49

  • Aldi £1.35

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