13 July 2014

Erlenbacher's Sunshine Cakes [review by @Nli10]

We were sent these cakes by the kind folks at www.erlenbacher.co.uk while away at Glastonbury.  They seem to have survived their time in the neighbours house and made their way to us for the review.

I think the idea is that these are the luxury cakes that you see in patisseries and cafes for you to either eat at home - or order in if you are a cafe that wants to attract more people.  They come beautifully presented in a paper container that is not only easy to remove but doesn't stick to the cake at all - it is even perforated so it tears down in sections quite satisfactorily - other cake manufacturers take note!

The two flavours we were sent were rhubarb and apple.


First up I tried the strawberry and rhubarb cake - this one above is a little squished due to transport but it's accompanying twin was in much better shape.  The range have similar soft bases with the toppings varying to give the different styles.  The fruit on this was good, not over dry and not over moist - the rhubarb being dominant over the strawberry but both providing a nice variety in tastes per mouthful.  Even though I cut this into slices to share it was easy to consume the whole thing without trouble.  More of a satisfying snack than a lunch, but great with a nice cup of tea.  

The textures were soft throughout and it had a good luxurious feel to it (again - the packaging really helped here).  The top was crisper than the base, but not hard as I initially thought it may be.  Also it wasn't too sweet which was pleasing, too many cakes try to compensate for flavour with sugar.

The following day I tried the Apple Crumble version.


The cake base for this seemed identical to the rhubarb one, but the topping was very different. There was less apple than I'd expected, but enough to give the flavour and all were recognisable chunks.  The crumble is the star here, providing a nice counter to the soft base and just adding a bit more bite to the experience.

That said - unusually for me I think I'd go for the rhubarb given the choice between the two.  I think the stronger flavours just appealed to me more.

While I'm not sure these are special enough to seek out cafes that stock them I'd certainly be happy when I spot them in town.  There are a few high-end cafes around Birmingham (I was in one in the Custard Factory yesterday - I had a slice of tiffin) and I'm frequently after something a little more substantial than a biscuit but less than a full meal to accompany my TeaPigs and this fits the bill well. Hopefully I'll get to try the chocolate flavour one day too!

No comments: