Your Money

Pricewatch: How much is too much for a decent Jaffa Cake?

Getting the balance right between chocolate, orange goo, and sponge can be tricky

Conor Pope's face
Conor Pope
Mon Feb 19 2018 - 00:00

McVities €1.89 for 10

This brand was caught up in a major scandal – we’re talking one of Watergate proportions – last year when it shrunk its boxes from 12 to 10 biscuits sparking outrage across social media platforms, and in Pricewatch’s heart. The people at McVities claimed they had also reduced the recommended retail price but we are not convinced that stop retailers ripping us off. (If you can remember what price you paid for these when they were a pack of 12 you might let us know). Shrinkflation issues aside, the McVities people do make a fine Jaffa cake. These smelled pleasingly fresh and zesty and we loved the layer of dark chocolate. The spongey base was pretty good too.

Verdict: Pretty lovely, but very dear

Image 1 of 3

Star rating: * * *

READ MORE

Lidl Jaffa Cakes €0.89 cent for 24

We approached these with a huge degree of suspicion as we could not believe that any class of Jaffa cake at such a price could possibly be any good. We were wrong – sort of. While this is not the type of dark chocolate and orangey treat that will have you racing home of an evening (in truth, no such treat exists), it is by no means bad. Each cake was on the small size and did seem to be very sweet. We liked the parity of esteem between the orangey goo and the sponge which was, incidentally, on the dry side. And we were very impressed with the chocolate. It is not really high end or anything, but we liked its bitterness.

Verdict: A very good deal

Star rating: * * * *

Tesco €1.07 for 24

These are another good value option although if you were really picky you might say they fall down in some key areas. They did not seem to have as much orange filling as we were able to find elsewhere but as that is our least favourite part of this particular biscuit, we were perfectly happy to live with that. Tesco seemed to be a bit mean with the chocolate which was more of a concern as we love it. The sponge base which was supposed to be light and airy – to our mind at any rate – was dry and ever so slightly brittle.

Verdict: A bit meh

Star rating: * *

Jacobs €2 for 10

We are quite well-disposed to this brand – if only because of its now-very-loose Irish connections. But we were alarmed to see that there were only 10 Jaffa cakes in the box too – we can’t say if they have shrunk in line with McVities but the number was definitely a concern. Not as much a concern as the price – which seemed far too high for our poor man tastes. It should be noted that on a cake-by-cake basis these are the dearest option but on a per kilo basis these are slightly cheaper than the McVities. We loved the bitterness of the chocolate and sweetness of the orange filling and the cakey texture the base was streets ahead of the rest.

Verdict: Top dog, price aside.

Star rating: *****

LidlTescoPricewatch