Named after the variety of orange used as main ingredient, Jaffa Cakes have been a best seller since they were first introduced in 1927. And aside from the eternal and slightly frustrating cake or biscuit debate settled in court in a VAT tribunal in 1991 (they’re legally cakes), they remain a fine snack product. But can other flavours work? Find out with our McVitie Limited Edition Strawberry Jaffa Cakes review.
I don’t blame McVitie for trying new flavours with the ‘Limited Edition’ tag. After all, it’s worked brilliantly for brands like Oreo. It gives the marketing department something to work with, and even if just 1 in 5 current customers try out the new range, it gives a nice lift in sales for a while.
And it must do something good for Jaffa Cakes, because this isn’t the first appearance of the Limited Edition Strawberry version. In fact, it first appeared back in 2009. But if you haven’t experienced them yet, you can pick them up from most supermarkets, including Tesco. They cost £1 for a pack of 10 light sponge cakes.
Limited Edition Strawberry Jaffa Cakes Review
Ripping open the box and plastic packaging reveals the Limited Edition versions are basically identical to the standard Jaffa Cake. Although they have what appears to be slightly darker chocolate with possibly more cocoa, you’d struggle to pick them out of a line-up.
It’s only if you peer inside that you can spot the red strawberry jam filling. So no bonus points on the plate. But how do they taste?
All three family members and reviews agree for once. The taste of strawberry just isn’t strong enough to make a difference.
The strawberry jam jelly is fine, and tastes stronger if you pick it out of the sponge cake and chocolate. So it seems that McVitie might have upped the cocoa flavour to avoid the Jaffa Cakes becoming too sweet. But the result is that the Limited Edition Strawberry Jaffa Cakes are inoffensively bland.
Considering they’ve been around for a decade now, it seems strange that the strawberry flavour isn’t allowed to be stronger. After all, it’s the tang of orange that makes a normal Jaffa Cake so good, and McVitie’s also produce Lemon and Lime versions. Especially when the company never trademarked the actual Jaffa Cake name, so there are plenty of cheaper store brand alternatives – stronger flavours would demonstrate a premium brand. And limited editions are all about standing out.
So to conclude our Limited Edition Strawberry Jaffa Cakes review, they’re perfectly acceptable and inoffensive. But you’re basically better off sticking to the standard orange versions we all know and love.
