Taste test gives shock result for best caterpillar cake – it’s not Colin

Acaterpillar cake taste test has sent shockwaves across the industry as Marks and Spencer’s original Colin was knocked off the top spot.

A Which? blind taste test of caterpillar cakes from eight supermarkets found Co-op’s Charlie, costing £8 for 660g, to be the finest, awarding it a 72% score and the watchdog’s coveted “Best Buy” recommendation.

In surprise news to some, the Co-op won with its “ultimate combination” of chocolate, sponge and buttercream.

Coming in a close second was M&S’s Colin at £8.50 for 625g, achieving a 71% and a “Best Buy” recommendation, beating most of its rivals with its “superior sponge and delicious chocolatey flavour”.

However, the result will be a bitter blow for M&S, whose Colin cake has been widely copied by rival grocers.

M&S took Aldi to court for what became a long-running legal dispute in which the former accused the discounter of copying Colin with its “Cuthbert” product.

An undisclosed settlement eventually reached by the two grocers did not deter Aldi from going on to release an ad in which it announced it was “like M&S, only cheaper”, and showing rival caterpillar cakes Cuthbert and Colin breaking into a scuffle at a party.

Morrisons’ Morris the Caterpillar Cake (£7.50 for 624g) received a score of 70%, with testers finding its sponge “a little disappointing”.

Tying in third place with Morrisons was Sainsbury’s, whose Wiggles the Caterpillar Cake (£7.50 for 627g) lacked “much-needed moistness”, while nearly a third of tasters thought the chocolate shell was too thin.

Waitrose scored 69% for its Cecil the Caterpillar Cake (£8.50 for 720g), and while tasters were satisfied with the strength of chocolate flavour, sweetness and thickness of the chocolate shell, almost half felt there was too much sponge compared with buttercream.

Aldi’s Cuthbert, the cheapest option at £5.49 for 625g, could only achieve 68%, with nearly half of tasters finding the sponge too dry, although Which? Noted it was not a bad choice for a budget birthday cake.

Tying with Aldi’s score was Tesco’s Slinky the Caterpillar Cake (£7.50 for 648g), with tasters finding it “too dry” and lacking buttercream.