Tesco Cupcakes: Salted caramel

Product name: Tesco Cupcakes: Salted caramel
Purchase details: £1.40 for a pack of two cupcakes or three for two (Tesco)
Calories: 297 per cupcake
Country of origin: UK

When I bought my Tesco Peanut Butter Style Cupcakes on a three for two offer, it took me ages to decide what other sweet treats to get! I’m aware that salted caramel products seem to be everywhere at the moment but, in the end, this was one of the other new cupcake varieties I plumped for.

Once again, the cakes came in a simple but well-designed clear box. The cardboard sleeve was caramel-coloured to add to the ‘caramel flavoured sponge with salted caramel sauce and rich caramel frosting’. I must admit that I found the prospect of a caramel sponge particularly exciting!

 

The golden sponges looked incredibly moist and were filled with a deep shade of amber sauce which, despite only contributing to 1.5% of each cake, seemed plentiful. The swirled frosting was a fudgy colour, accounted for another 43% of the product, and was finished off with a mini puddle of more salted caramel sauce and a small ‘chocolate decoration’.

Despite being subtle, the cupcakes emitted a lovely scent that was like treacle sponge. I tried some of the sauce first and found this to have a deep and surprisingly creamy, brown sugary taste, with the salt coming through at the end – I was definitely grateful that the latter wasn’t too strong. The frosting had a great buttercream taste but felt a bit more grown-up due to the inclusion of the caramel. In the meantime, the incredibly soft sponge provided a sweet flavour with a subtle caramel hint, making the chocolate curls taste particularly dark in comparison (although these weren't that noticeable).

Possibly because I’m used to salted caramel being paired with chocolate, I expected these Tesco Cupcakes: Salted caramel to be quite intense. However, they were sweeter and less salty than I’d prepared myself for...and absolutely beautiful. I’m a fan of basic shop-bought birthday cakes (the ones consisting of plain sponge, jam and buttercream) and these cupcakes were like that but with deeper flavours and a much moister texture. They were also a lot more sophisticated!

I certainly wasn’t disappointed with this choice. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 9.5/10
Overall score: 8.38/10