Co-op beats M&S original Colin in caterpillar cake blind taste test

A caterpillar cake taste test has seen Co-op knock Marks and Spencer’s original Colin off the top spot for its “ultimate combination” of chocolate, sponge and buttercream.

The watchdog’s 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 a coveted “Best Buy” recommendation.

Which? said the cake “wowed tasters” with its “ultimate combination of rich chocolate flavour, moist sponge and soft 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.

Asda’s Letty (£7.50 for 615g) came last with a score of 67% after tasters were concerned about its weak chocolate flavour and dry sponge.

Which? head of home products and services Natalie Hitchins said: “For a lot of us, a caterpillar cake is a must for a birthday or celebration. Our test results show you don’t have to go out of your way to get the best, or splash too much cash.

“Our panel rated Co-op as our highest scoring caterpillar cake overall. As well as being budget-friendly, Co-op’s Charlie the Caterpillar had a rich chocolate flavour and plentiful amount of buttercream.

“The scores across the board were quite close, so you can’t go too far wrong with a caterpillar cake, but if you want the best, we advise you to head to Co-op or M&S.”

Nicole Tallant, from Co-op, said: “We’re thrilled that Which? has settled the big caterpillar cake debate and named Co-op as being the best tasting on the high street for the second time.”