Cherry Bakewell tarts are a beloved teatime treat in many households. This English classic is said to have been 'made by mistake' at a pub in Bakewell, Derbyshire back in the 19th century. It proved so tasty that the recipe stuck as a 'Bakewell pudding' until it was developed into a tart around 1900.
I wanted to see if any of the supermarket own brands of Bakewell tarts could match Mr Kipling, so I bought boxes from Asda, Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's and Morrisons and asked my son to help me taste test them. We compared the flavour, appearance, shelf life, sugar content and price to see which we liked the best. Here's what we found.
Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells
Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells cost £2 for six, which works out to 33p each. These cakes had a four-week shelf life. Made with 11% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 202 calories, 3.4g saturated fat, 17.4g sugars and 0.17g salt. Interestingly, we both felt that these cakes looked the most synthetic and least homemade of all the brands. The cherry was off centre and very small. There was a good combination of icing and jam, and the shortcrust pastry and almond sponge had a nice texture in the mouth but wasn't our favourite. We gave them 4 out of 5 stars.
Tesco Cherry Bakewell Tarts
Tesco Cherry Bakewell Tarts cost £1.35 for six, which works out to 23p each. These cakes had a five-week shelf life. Made with 12% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 215 calories, 4.4g saturated fat, 22g sugars and 0.07g salt. These tarts looked disappointing. The cherry on the top was shrivelled like a prune or raisin and there seemed to be a small amount of jam even though, when checking the ingredients later, we discovered it had one of the higher percentage contents. I think the jam was perhaps not as flavoursome as in some of the other cakes although I did like the almond sponge. We gave them 3 out of 5 stars.
Morrisons Cherry Bakewell Tarts
Morrisons Cherry Bakewell Tarts cost £1.35 for six, which works out to 23p each. These cakes had a four-week shelf life. Made with 8% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 181 calories, 2.5g saturated fat, 15.7g sugars and 0.09g salt. These tarts tasted traditional and homemade. The pastry was soft and crumbly, just like my Nan used to make. The cherry on the top was tiny and off centre but it had a nice flavour and there was only a tiny slither of jam - the joint least of all the brands. We gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Sainsbury's Cherry Bakewell Tarts
Sainsbury's Cherry Bakewell Tarts cost £1.19 for six, which works out to 20p each. These cakes had a four-week shelf life. Made with 8% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 183 calories, 2.7g saturated fat, 14.8g sugars and 0.8g salt. There was a large cherry in the centre of these cakes but it was a very sweet glace cherry and not very pleasant. The jam, although it was a lower percentage content than some of the others, it was sharp and tangy and the almond flavour in the sponge was good. However, we found the pastry a bit soft and cloying in the mouth. We gave them 3 out of 5 stars.
Lidl Cherry Bakewell Tarts
Lidl Cherry Bakewell Tarts cost £1.19 for six, which works out to 20p each. These cakes had a two-week shelf life. Made with 11% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 192 calories, 2.6g saturated fat, 14.7g sugars and 0.09g salt. Unfortunately, the pastry was pretty dry, which let down an otherwise tasty tart. The almond sponge was bursting with flavour, the icing was good and there was a nice amount of rich, tasty jam. We gave them 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Aldi Cherished Cherry Bakewell Tarts
Aldi Cherished Cherry Bakewell Tarts cost £1.19 for six, which works out to 20p each. These cakes had a four-week shelf life. Made with 11% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 189 calories, 3g saturated fat, 16.4g sugars and 0.09g salt. The pastry was amazing - crumbly and delicious - and these cakes weren't overly sweet, which we thought was a good thing. There was just the right amount of icing and jam, and the jam tasted great. They had the biggest cherry on the top and looked great too. We gave them 5 out of 5 stars.
M&S Bite of the Cherry Bakewell Tarts
M&S Bite of the Cherry Bakewell Tarts cost £3 for four, which works out to 75p per cake. These cakes had an 11-day shelf life, which was significantly shorter than the others. Made with 17% plum and raspberry jam, each cake contains 192 calories, 4.4g saturated fat, 21.6g sugars and 0.17g salt. These cakes looked really different to all the others and they didn't taste like Cherry Bakewells. They were bigger with darker pastry cases and a darker cherry on the top. We found that the pastry was too crumbly and they were overly sweet with a big dollop of jam and a thicker layer of sugary icing. I couldn't taste the almond flavour in them at all. My son loves Cherry Bakewells and he couldn't finish his. We gave them 2 out of 5 stars.
Overall verdict
There were two Cherry Bakewell brands that we actually preferred to Mr Kipling. They were the Morrisons ones, because they tasted homemade, and the Aldi ones, because they were great all rounders - scoring the highest for the pastry, icing, sponge, jam and overall appearance. And they had the longest shelf life too. They were the cheapest too at £1.19 a box, compared to £2 for Mr Kipling, which worked out to 13p cheaper per cake. That can add up if you're adding them to lunchboxes or offering them as after school treats. We'll definitely be buying Aldi's 'cherished' Bakewells again.
