Review: mini cakes for picnics

I’ve been writing a feature about picnics, and as a result have received a fair few samples of pre-packaged miniature cakes. I thought I’d do a little round-up of some of them as they’re particularly useful for lunchboxes as well as picnics.

Of course it’s wonderful to make your own cakes, but not everyone has the time or inclination.

Soreen Lunchbox Loaves (RRP £1.49 )

Packs of 5 lunchbox loaves in original malt loaf flavour and also banana flavour.

I loved malt loaf as a child, so I really like the idea of these. However the boys had other ideas.

The banana one didn’t go down well at all – a bit artificial tasting.

The malt loaf version was scoffed by raisin-lover Arlo, but Sam doesn’t like raisins at all so it wasn’t a suprise when he rejected them altogether.

If you’re watching your weight these would be great little snacks as they’re about 100 calories per bar and pretty low in fat too – 0.1g sat fat.

Verdict: A thumbs up for the mini malt loaves – best for raisin lovers and dieters!

Mr Kipling snap packs (RRP £1.45)

This brand of cakes always bring back memories of the 1980s – battenburg being one of my favourite treats enjoyed at birthday parties as a child and then later as a pregnancy craving when I was all about the pudding!

The snap pack range currently includes the angel cakes, lemon slices and the seasonal simnel slices we tried which are spiced fruit cakes with a soft almond layer. They go well with a nice cup of tea, and for such a small cake are surprisingly filling.

177 calories per cake, 2.6g sat fat – not really a good diet option.

Despite them being pretty yum, one look at the long list of scientific sounding ingredients put into these things doesn’t really inspire me to give them to my own children.

Verdict: A guilty pleasure

Born to be Yummy, The Goodness Cakes (RRP £3.00)

This wasn’t a brand i’d heard of or seen in the supermarket, but I was immediately impresed with the attractive cardboard boxes of individually wrapped treats.

They contain cleverly hidden fruit and vegetables and nothing weird or artificial on the ingredients list.

We tried:

bonkers choca-na-na: banana and chocolate flapjacks – these were quite nice, but a bit dry. Probably the least favourite of the boys.

choca doodle choo: chocolate and apricot crispies – moist and very scoffable – my personal fave. The boys loved them – Sam did not notice that they contained dried apricot (which he wouldn’t normally touch) as well as crushed linseed.

ooey gooey: chocolate brownies – these were the boys favourites – they seemed like the biggest treat of all, but contain carrots – hurrah!

These aren’t widely available yet but look out for Born To Be Yummy in farm shops, fine food delis, foodhalls, independent supermarket chains and garden centres across the UK.

Verdict: These are definitely top of my list  – the kids loved them and they’re not full of rubbish. Only drawback is the hefty price tag, but you’re clearly paying for quality here. Fingers crossed a supermarket snaps them up soon.

What are your favourite shop bought lunch box fillers? Or perhaps you won’t touch them with a barge pole?!

Thanks to Soreen, Mr Kipling and Born To Be Yummy for sending me the samples to try