WHAT if you could have your cake and eat it? Well we’ve been tasting mini-rolls to find the best ones.
According to Finder Brits love cake so much that over £1.3 billion is spent on it each year.
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Telly classic, the Great British Bake Off even returned to our screens last week, and we’re now two episodes deep into the series.
The show has had avid bakers up and down the country so far craving mini rolls as the first episode delved into how to make the cake delights.
The well-loved cake snack is a supermarket staple – but who makes the best one?
We put seven supermarket mini roll packs, including Aldi, Lidl and Tesco, plus the original Cadbury’s classic, to the test to see which ones tasted best.
We rated each chocolate treat on a scale of one to 10 in categories on appearance, taste and value for money.
Of course, the most important is how good the naughty little treats taste, but we also cast our opinion over how the mini rolls looked on the shelves, as well as how deep you’re going to have to delve into your pockets for a pack.
Here’s how each of the mini rolls fared.
Cadburys
- Price: £2.90, 10 pack
- Total score: 22/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 5/10 Taste: 8/10 Appearance: 9/10
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Cadbury’s was, of course, our favourite tasting mini roll, and any of the supermarket’s knock offs would have a hard time trying to compete.
We really wanted a supermarket own-brand to win – but nothing really compared to the original.
The cake was light and fluffy and the cream inside had a nice fresh taste.
Obviously the chocolate coating was up to par too as it met the same standard of quality the brand is known for.
We couldn’t of course give it the full 10/10 marks though, as that’s reserved for the home baking.
The only problem is that the 10 pack of mini rolls is on the pricier side.
But you can make sure you still pick up a pack at a bargain price.
We picked up a pack that was originally £2.90 but with a Clubcard we could get that reduced down to just £1.90 instead, making a saving of £1.
Lidl
- Price: 79p, 10 pack
- Total score: 22/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 9/10 Taste: 5/10 Appearance: 8/10
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Overall, Lidl’s take on mini rolls managed to tie with Cadburys as both scored 22 out of the total 30 points offered in our taste test.
While it wasn’t one of the best tasting out out of the baked bunch, the value for money and look of the rolls blew us away just as much, hence the one of the highest scores.
At only 79p a pack, each of the 10 mini rolls works out to be roughly 8p, so you’ll definitely be able to fill the kid’s lunch boxes for the week on a tight budget.
If you’re just after a quick chocolate fix we’re sure you’re little ones won’t mind the taste either, and they’ll love the fun Cadburys purple dupe packaging each one comes in too.
They were a bit too sweet and artificial tasting in the middle for us in our taste test, but we’re sure being “too sweet” is the opposite of a problem for any panel of kids.
Aldi – 79p
- Price: 79p, 10 pack
- Total score: 21/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 9/10 Taste: 4/10 Appearance: 8/10
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We really didn’t enjoy Aldi’s take on mini rolls in terms of taste, meaning the pack scored a measly four out of 10 for flavour.
The supermarket was one of the cheapest to be offering the lunchbox snack though.
You get 10 in a 79p pack which works out to be almost 8p per mini roll, which is great value for money.
In terms of look, Aldi once again has potentially pushed the envelope on design.
The bubble font found on the packaging is arguably similar to Cadburys design too, but that’s why we love it, and it’s certainly striking on the shelf of the supermarket, plus you know exactly what you’re buying.
So the two factors together were the saving grace of Aldi’s very artificial tasting filling coupled with a dry-like sponge inside.
You also can’t shop online at Aldi but you can browse groceries before you head out, check Aldi’s store locator tool before you go too.
Tesco
- Price: £1.30, 10 pack
- Total score: 21/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 6/10 Taste: 7/10 Appearance: 8/10
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Tesco’s take on mini rolls was quite cheap so we gave it a six for value for money.
But if you do have the extra pennies to spare, and the supermarket is your go-to choice, for an extra 50p you could opt for our preferred Cadbury’s version.
That’s if you have a Clubcard of course, the little virtual scanner or plastic card you might have in your wallet can be a lifesaver in Tesco reducing spend by as much as a third.
It’s free to get one too, so the savings are a great bonus.
But the supermarket’s own take on mini rolls can’t be reduced with the magic abilities of the Tesco Clubcard.
That means unfortunately, the 10 pack is the most expensive of the cheap lot, without the ability to lower it in offers and promotions.
Tesco has a twist in terms of flavour as well, as the mini rolls are in fact double chocolate, meaning they had both a chocolate outer coating AND a chocolate flavoured cream filling.
We love chocolate and it’s arguably the best bit of the mini roll, so that gave the treats a big thumbs up from us in our taste test.
Sainsbury’s
- Price: £1.20, 10 pack
- Total score: 20/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 7/10 Taste: 6/10 Appearance: 7/10
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Not a top scorer but certainly not our least favourite, Sainsbury’s mini rolls were a good middle of the road contender across the board.
The cakes aren’t exactly on the cheap side though, as they work out to be 12p per mini roll in a £1.20 pack of 10.
The packaging is still relatively eyecatching, so you’ll know what you’re picking up in the shop.
The taste of these mini rolls was better than some of the others but it still didn’t quite match the creaming velvety smooth taste of Cadburys.
If you do already shop at Sainsbury’s, swapping to the supermarket dupe will definitely save you some pennies over bigger brand names, and you won’t be overly disappointed in the taste, in our opinion.
Morrisons
- Price: £1.20, 10 pack
- Total score: 20/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 7/10 Taste: 7/10 Appearance: 6/10
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Morrison’s scored pretty high in our mini rolls taste test too.
And we actually quite liked the taste of these.
The only issue is that the packaging looks a little naked for our liking, there’s no indication of what’s inside with the plain purple wrapper on display.
They’re not as cheap as some of the other options but the pack is definitely cheaper than other contenders and big brands alike.
You pretty much get each mini roll in the 10 pack for 12p, which is still great for a tight budget.
Asda
- Price: £1, 10 pack
- Total score: 18/30
Our verdict: Value for money: 8/10 Taste: 4/10 Appearance: 6/10
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Unfortunately Asda was one of our least favourite mini roll makers in the taste test.
But it was on the cheaper end.
At only £1 per pack, you can ultimately pick up the mini rolls at 10p each.
But that didn’t quite make up for the taste of the chocolate bakes coupled with the arguably off putting blue packaging.
If you were scanning the shelves in Asda for a cheaper alternative for Cadburys mini rolls, you might miss the pack altogether as it looks nothing like the other dupes or the copy it is trying to replicate.
The cakes scored one of the lowest taste scores based on our liking, similar to Aldi, we found them too artificial in the middle with an unappealing sponge to match.
They were great value for money, but it wasn’t enough to bump the bakes higher up the list.
If you’re still after a chocolate fix, we tested out Magnum ice cream dupes earlier in the summer to see which supermarket knock-off could freeze-out the expensive competitor.
But with the colder weather now creeping in nothing beats curling up on the sofa with a cuppa and a hot doughy crumpet, fresh from the toaster and lathered in melted butter, which we obviously had to try for ourselves too.
You might be more of a fast-food fan though, and if that’s the case we’ve also tried and tested supermarket chicken nuggets including Aldi and M&S to see which ones are best.
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