It’s been a long time coming, but the moment has finally arrived: the great Good Food Caterpillar Cake Taste Test.
Few supermarket products inspire quite as much loyalty, debate and outright passion as the humble caterpillar cake. Surely the ultimate perk of being the birthday boy or girl is getting your pick of the perfect slice. Each introduction of a new supermarket caterpillar creation can become a national British food conversation, just like jam vs cream first on a scone, how long to brew a tea or the perfect shade of toast.
A uniquely British celebration cake, the caterpillar phenomenon is thought to have been inspired by the beloved children’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. M&S’s Colin the Caterpillar was the first to launch in 1990, with over 15 million Colin’s having been sold since and a whole world of Colin spin-offs created, from sweets and brownies to Colin-themed hampers, slippers and Christmas tree baubles during the festive season. Not forgetting, of course, his wife Connie the Caterpillar – introduced as Colin’s cakey girlfriend in 2016 and married in 2017.
Three decades on, Colin is no longer the only caterpillar in the cake aisle. Every major supermarket now has its own chocolate-covered challenger, each promising fluffy sponge, rich chocolate filling and an irresistibly smiley face. Today, Lidl have finally launched their own contribution to the caterpillar party, with brand new Cooper the Caterpillar landing on shelves. With all supermarkets now in the mix, we decided there was only one thing to do: gather the nation’s best-loved bugs and put them to the ultimate blind taste test.
The testing process
We bought every caterpillar cake we could find, one from each major supermarket in the UK (having looked in store, Iceland do not sell one). Each one was tasted fully blind – with slices cut into small pieces so no one could recognise any of the cakes, even if they’ve had it before.
Each cake was numbered and judges individually ranked it on taste, test and appearance. For taste we wanted good chocolate flavour and balanced sweetness. A homemade feel would be ideal, but at least nothing tasting overly artificial. For texture we looked at the ratios of cake to icing – was the level of icing overpowering, or providing a welcome level of squidginess? Most importantly on texture, was the cake dry, or perfectly soft? For appearance, we looked just at the slices first – assessing the cake crumb, colour, neatness of slice and Swiss roll swirl inside.
Judges did not confer during the tasting process, so that no one could be swayed by another opinion. Taste was our main priority and only after this had been determined were judges allowed to see the whole cakes to see the overall levels of decoration.
Before the big reveal of the overall winner, our bonus points go to…
Best overall decoration: there was something undeniably charming about the expression on Lidl’s new Cooper the Caterpillar, along with all his sprinkles. The generous amounts of colourful sprinkles and chocolate balls also looked great on Asda’s Letty the Caterpillar, although the fondant green face proved controversial for nostalgic taste testers used to the white chocolate on a classic Colin. Wiggles the Caterpillar by Sainsbury’s ticked boxes for both plenty of sprinkles and a sweet white chocolate face.
Cutest caterpillar cake face: This has to go to Morris, from (you guessed it) Morrisons. We love his jaunty party hat detail, rosy cheeks and cheery expression. He’s happy to be at your celebration.
Cheapest cake: big rivals Aldi and Lidl are tied here – both £6.99. There was little variation in prices overall, with many supermarkets matching M&S at £9.50. The most expensive cake was Co-op, at £9.85.
Supermarket
Price
Aldi:
6.99
Asda:
9
Co-op:
9.85
Lidl:
6.99
M&S:
9.5
Morrisons:
9
Sainsbury’s:
9.5
Tesco:
9.5
Waitrose:
9.5
And if you want some trivia for your next pub quiz, here’s all the creative names that each supermarket has chosen to name their caterpillar creation. From twists on boys names beginning with C (to join the original Colin) to more of a insect specific approach…
Supermarket
Name
Aldi:
Cuthbert
Asda:
Letty
Co-op:
Charlie
Lidl
Cooper
M&S:
Colin
Morrisons:
Morris
Sains:
Wiggles
Tesco:
Slinky
Waitrose:
Cecil
So after all that taste testing, which cake came out on top?
The cakes did all taste surprisingly different, despite suspicions that several of them might have been made in the same factory. But in the end, there was only one winner…
Winner: M&S Colin the Caterpillar
Perhaps no surprise to some, but in the end, after fully blind taste testing, the original Colin the Caterpillar cake still won out.
The overall decoration is actually quite restrained in comparison to some of it’s newer challengers, with neatly arranged rows of chocolate beans in alternating shades and the signature ridged design that is helpful for cutting even slices. (Whilst not part of our taste test, we noticed in store that Connie the Caterpillar has a jazzier decoration with the addition of plenty of sprinkles). Colin is also the only cake to have detail on the tail.
The cake was a well balanced all-rounder with a good ratio of sponge to icing. It had well flavoured chocolate on the outside, creamy icing and balanced sweetness throughout, which was particularly noticeable in comparison to other cakes.
Runner up: Lidl Cooper the Caterpillar
Lidl’s brand new launch came in and nearly stole the show, narrowly missing out on the top spot. It’s got a fun design with a bucket hat (that admittedly gives slightly more Thomas the Tank Engine energy rather than trendy hipster) and high top trainers, plus plenty of colourful sprinkles. The texture was the highlight that earned it runner up position – impressively soft, light and airy. There was a good ratio of icing and satisfying chocolate flavour. Plus, it’s £2.50 cheaper than the M&S option…
Verdicts on the rest, in alphabetical order…
Aldi
Aldi’s Cuthbert had a moreish gooey texture that led it to very nearly being our runner up pick, before it was pipped to the post by Lidl. Appearance wise, he’s decorated with a cute bow tie on the white chocolate face and chunky white chocolate trainers. The overall shape is much more square and flat on top compared to the others, with a sprinkling of big chocolate beans.
Both sponge and icing inside were a pleasing deep dark brown, compared to paler, drier sponges seen elsewhere. Inside, a generous amount of icing kept each slice satisfyingly squidgy and the cake was never dry, almost brownie-like in some bites, although the icing had a strong flavour that was quite intense.
Asda
The green fondant face on Asda’s Letty (for lettuce, get it?) proved controversial for judges, although did have a sweet expression and a generous amount of sprinkles on top to make this feel perfectly celebratory for a party. The cake had a very clear visible neat swirl inside, with a pale cake and thin layers of icing. The sponge was drier and firm, more like a muffin than a cake and it was let down by poor chocolate on top.
Co-op
Another cake with a fondant face replacing the original white chocolate, with matching yellow fondant trainers. Charlie the Caterpillar had a good amount of icing, but again the cake felt dry and didn’t have the best aftertaste.
Morrisons
Morris the cake scored very well for appearance with a great face and plenty of sprinkles bringing the fun. The taste was good at first, but had a disappointing artificial aftertaste that stopped us wanting more.
Sainsbury’s
Wiggles the Caterpillar had similar smarties design to M&S, but with the addition of chocolate sprinkles for a more colourful boost. The cake lacked flavour overall, and the chocolate felt disappointingly poor quality.
Tesco
Tesco’s Slinky had the most basic face design with a simple orange fondant round – another one that somehow reminded judges of Thomas the Tank Engine. Kids might like it! Arguably the intended audience for these cakes…
Waitrose
Cecil from Waitrose had an unusual shape that got slightly fatter towards the back – you’d definitely want a larger slice from the end! Despite looking slightly more rustic than others, the flavour was surprisingly artificial.