Devilishly hard to cut and, lo and behold, the cake is terribly dry. Large glace cherries offer welcome relief but can’t save the cardboard-textured marzipan lid and bland flavour.
The squidgy marzipan balls are extremely dull in flavour and the cake is mealy-textured, like softened couscous. Apricot jam dominates the flavour and while the fruit has been soaked in Earl Grey tea it’s all rather puny. Not at all joyful.
The ruler-straight lattice top is too firm and the cake itself is dry and bitter, dispensing itself in loose crumbles. We’re hard-pressed to note any seam of almond paste running through it, so miserly is its distribution.
If you love that potent apricot-kernel-almond flavour you’ll get it in spades here. There’s a bitterness to the bake but it’s not unpleasant; more like a grown-up rich tea cake, the marzipan top is its finest feature.
A handy bar that can be easily sliced. Despite the miniature size, it’s well proportioned – not skimping on fruit and actually delivering a belt of soft almond paste. Extremely citrussy; this could pass as an orange cake. Nothing showy here but for the price it’s a good tea-time option.
Chocca with juicy sultanas, raisins and currants which, along with a generous slick of almond paste through the centre, keep the already moist buttery crumb super succulent. We love the retro-style design, too.
