The Queen of Hearts...

27th August 2009: Birds the Confectionists - Jam Tart

Rating: 9/10

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts all on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more!

Jam tarts are something that conjures up lots of childhood memories for me. Easy to make and a great way to use up left over pastry, they were something me and my mum would often bake. Sometimes she would make a 'free form' large jam tart for pudding which we all would share- delicious when freshly baked from the oven. Infact, I like jam tarts so much I would even say that they are my favourite type of tart as I just love jam!

These little pastries made by Birds certainly do not fail to impress. I often find that I am slightly disappointed by shop bought cakes as they don't normally compare to my Mum's homemade cakes I've been brought up on. However, these exceeded my expectations, and in my opinion, they are the best jam tarts you can buy. The pastry, is of course up to normal Birds standards- thin, crisp and sweet with the usual inviting aromas. Inside the pastry shell is a generous pool of seeded raspberry jam which is firm enough not to run out after taking the first bite but still beautifully smooth and not at all jelly-like. The main reason I like these so much is because of the high ratio of jam to pastry- something that is hard to find in shop bought versions! If you're a fan of jam and havn't yet given one of these tarts a go, then you are seriously missing out.
Why do these not deserve a 10/10? Well, I guess because for me one is never enough and they just don't quite satisfy my sweet tooth!

Hard to beat homemade....

9th August 2010 - Waitrose espresso brownie

Rating: 6/10

I love chocolate and I love cake, so for me, chocolate brownies are bliss. The perfect brownie has to be dense, moist, very chocolately and have a sugar crust on the top that cracks as you take the first bite. I have a pretty good brownie recipe from my Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipe book which is perfect to use in chocolate fudge brownie ice cream as you can eat it frozen-brilliant! However, I've been eyeing up the espresso brownies in Waitrose for a while and I thought I better give one a try.

At first glance, these brownies don't appear to be overly appetising as the icing on top looks like chocolate that has bloomed, however I still had quite high expectations as I have not yet eaten a bad product from Waitrose! The brownie itself smelt pleasant and chocolaty, although there was no scent of coffee which I was expecting. It also had a good dense texture and was slightly crunchy on the outside. I didn't find the brownie overly sweet as the coffee flavour gave it a slightly bitter taste and so the fudge icing on top complimented it well. This was certainly not the best brownie I have ever eaten, as it just was a little too dry and crumbly for me and could have done with some big chocolate chunks! I think I'll stick to homemade ones- I think they will be hard to beat!

17th July 2010: Birds the confectionists - Swiss tart
Rating: 8.5/10

I'm not a big fan of cream cakes, something that Birds is renowned for. Instead, I tend to choose the 'dry lines', a term my boss uses for the non-cream cakes. One of my favourites is definitely the swiss tart- a mini version of the classic cherry bakewell tart. I often ate the Mr Kipling cherry bakewells throughout my childhood, along with other supermarket versions. It's not a cake I've been a huge fan of as I did think they were actually quite boring. I also once tried making my own bakewell tart and it turned out to be rather dry, which again has put me off. However, since tasting Bird's version I have certainly changed my mind!

This cake may be small but it surely does not lack in taste. A crisp, sweet pastry shell encloses a thin layer of jam, moist frangipan filling and a decent layer of glace icing. The tart is, of course, topped with a ruby red glace cherry- a definite must for a cherry bakewell tart!

The swiss tart is one of my favourite cakes at Bird's and is perfect when you fancy a little something sweet.

Lemon fondant fancy

6th July: Waitrose Lemon fancy

Rating: 7/10

I've developed quite a fond liking to Waitrose recently. We didn't have a store in Nottingham until the end of 2008 and up until then I had an assumption that Waitrose was posh and over priced. However, since actually going in I found that their prices were disimilar to Sainburys and I discovered that they have an in store bakery with delicious looking products. I couldn't resist having a taste of some of their cakes and now I feel I'm on a mission to try everything!

After a lot of thought and consideration I decided start with one of their lemon fondant fancy cake which looked exactly like the Mr Kipling version only bigger-brilliant! 

I found that when I bit into the cake it consisted of two layers of sponge sandwiched together with a thin layer of raspberry jam and butter icing. This was quite a nice suprise as I was expecting it to be plain inside. The cake was topped with a blob of that lovely vanilla cream just like the Mr Kipling ones and coated in tangy lemon fondant icing. It tasted lovely and sweet and brought back childhood memories of those shop bought birthday cakes I used to get at parties when I was a young.

I enjoyed this product but I didn't think it was anything too special and just didn't compare to the homemade cakes my mum used to make! I also found that although this was bigger than the Mr Kipling version, I just didn't feel satisfied after eating it and was left wanting more! I've decided I'm better off buying a box of the Mr Kipling ones as one is never enough!

Gingerbread footballer bears

25th June: Birds The Confectioners - Gingerbread footballer bear

Rating: 9/10

The world cup is here and Birds have brought out a range of football themed products including chocolate lollipops, England iced buns and these rather cute looking gingerbread footballer bears. A mild tasting ginger biscuit coated in sickly sweet white chocolate. Birds often produces various themed gingerbread biscuits for certain occasions during the year such as halloween and christmas and I always look forward to what they might being out next. These biscuits are quite substantial and most people struggle to eat a whole one as they can get quite sickly. However I find I can consume one of these rather too quickly and they definitely satisfy my sweet cravings! The ginger flavour is not strong or too overpowering so even if you're not a fan of ginger, I still suggest you give these a go. Unfortunately I think Birds made a big mistake writing 'Birds of Derby' on the bears' t-shirts. I think anybody who is not a Derby supporter has been slightly put off by this, hence we havn't actually sold that many. Never mind, I'll still buy them. I'm hoping England beat Germany on Sunday, can you guess why?

Welcome!

Hello there, first of all, thank you for visiting my blog. Now I'm guessing you clicked on this site because you have a sweet tooth and are craving for something sugary- am I right? Well if you are after some information and advice on the best cakes you can buy in the UK then you've come to the right place!
I often find that I go into a cake shop and stand pondering for too long, wishing somebody could give me some advice on what to buy! I have now tried a fair few cakes from various shops/bakeries in the UK so I have set up this blog to provide a place where anyone and everyone can find out about on the best cakes out there! Of course this is only my personal opinion, so I am open to your views and comments- please feel free to write your thoughts and give me suggestions on different products to try.
I hope you enjoy- and remember, don't deprive your sweet tooth- satisfy it!

Claire x