I have been a follower of Sponge for a while but never actually had a Sponge myself. I have sent a couple of Baby Sponges to others for birthday’s, I think they are a pretty nifty idea and I have always got good feedback. Whilst at the Cake & Bake Show the other month I was delighted to see Sponge had a stall and I couldn’t help but buy some.
Split between Traditional, Quirky, Stars & Gluten Free, Sponge have quite an array of flavours on offer ranging from Victoria to Apple Crumble to Rocky Road and a Seasonal Special. Each Baby Sponge was a marvellous £1.00 at the show so I opted for 3, one for each of us at home – Bakewell for me, Caramel & Peanut for the daddio and dare I say Carrot for the mother
Each baby sponge looked mighty cute in their little presentation boxes.
Left: Carrot Sponge, Caramel & Peanut Sponge & Bakewell Sponge
Caramel & Peanut: This was pretty dry as dry sponges go. There was no chocolate flavour from the sponge, nor a hint of caramel and the only peanut taste came from the chopped peanuts on top. I really am not gelling with the chopped nuts on top and felt very lack lustre at the sponge as a whole
Top Left: Caramel & Peanut: Chocolate sponge with toffee butter icing with chopped up Snickers bar and salted peanuts; Bakewell: Almond sponge with almond oil butter icing crushed raspberry jam and flaked almond topping; Carrot – Fruity carrot sponge with vanilla buttercream & nutty topping
Carrot: I roll my eyes at the fact I am even writing about carrot cake but what is a gal to do when it is her mother’s favourite. She raved about this little number and stated it tasted exactly like a traditional carrot cake. I on the other hand do not partake in supposed cake, my carrots are for dinners only.
Bakewell: This little badger was the one I was most eager to try. This little sponge gave off a mighty almondy marzipan aroma that got me excited. Taking a bite the texture of the cake was good, not perfect as it was a tad dry but passable. The flavours were certainly there, I would have liked a bit more of a jam layering, which would have aided the dry crumb texture as well. The bakewell flavour wasn’t at all synthetic, and overall a pleasure to eat.
I am not overly enthused and am utterly disappointed by these Sponge Baby Sponges. I expected so much more. The Caramel and Peanut was dry and tasteless, the Bakewell had a lovely flavour but the lack of jammy filling and being on the air of dry hampered my overall opinion. It would seem the Carrot was the best of the bunch but is certainly not enough to change my views on Carrot Cake.
Nibbles ‘n’ Scribbles x