Latest news with #sweet sandwich
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
‘An abomination': I tested Tesco's birthday cake sandwich
It is shaping up to be the summer of the sweet sandwich. First M&S launched its strawberries and cream 'dessert' sarnie, and now Tesco has followed up with a birthday cake sandwich. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the Clubcard, the sandwich apparently took Tesco's development staff nine months to create. The supermarket is showing its confidence in the product by making it available in 1,000 stores for four weeks. Inspired by the Victoria sponge, the £3 sandwich contains cream cheese icing, strawberry jam, rainbow sprinkles and vanilla frosting slapped in a 'brioche-style' bread. Not everyone is impressed when our sandwich arrives. 'The WI are the ultimate arbiters of the Victoria sponge and they'd throw that out in an instant,' scoffs Andrew Baker, a Telegraph editor and author of Cake: A Slice Of British Life. 'A Victoria sponge is a plain sponge, jam and maybe a bit of cream. Cream cheese? Vanilla frosting? Disgusting.' Thankfully, as The Telegraph 's unofficial meal deal correspondent and resident sweet tooth, I am quite used to having my lunch labelled 'disgusting'. I'd never hold an expert opinion against anything I eat, especially when Tesco promises 'an all-time favourite treat, in an all-time favourite deal!' What could possibly go wrong? Unlike the thick wodge M&S presented a few months ago, Tesco's sweet treat is the same size and shape as a regular supermarket sarnie. The brioche-style bread is slightly yellow and springy to the touch, a bit like the bouncy castle at the children's party where this sandwich might feasibly be served. The whole thing looks like an inverted Simpsons' doughnut. The first bite is simultaneously the driest and wettest thing I've ever eaten. That brioche bread has been cunningly formulated to be so dry and tasteless that one can't help but be reminded of every disappointing birthday they've experienced in their adult life. The cream cheese, on the other hand, is of the claggy variety, and the jam far too sweet. The concoction fills your mouth and clogs your senses. I felt like a character in one of those horror movie prequels who ingests some mysterious black goo and finds it consuming from them the inside out. The best part? Surprisingly, the sprinkles, which at least added an interestingly gritty texture. Suffice to say it's nutritionally questionable, and by the time I reached the end I felt I'd been blasted back in time to my sixth birthday party, where I ate so much cake I spent the whole evening throwing up. I wanted water, both to remove the taste and to wash away the shame of eating it. Truly, an abomination. If you find yourself wondering how it could possibly have taken the boffins in Tesco's food labs nine months to create this sandwich, I'd point you to the ingredients list, which contains a lengthy list of ingredients ranging from spirit vinegar to spirulina extract. Yum. Having attended plenty of 30th birthdays recently, I feel hugely qualified when I tell you this is an invite you should turn down with maximum prejudice.
The Sun
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
M&S is launching a new DESSERT sandwich and it's a dupe for a viral Japanese one
M&S has just dropped a limited-edition sweet sandwich and it's a total game-changer for summer snackers. The posh grocer has taken inspiration from a viral Japanese trend and launched the Red Diamond Strawberry & Crème Sandwich. The £2.80 luxury sandwich comes packed with strawberries and a whipped cream cheese filling, all hugged between slices of sweet bread. M&S said: 'With our exclusive Red Diamond Strawberries at their juiciest best, the time has finally come to create the ultimate strawberries and crème experience.' M&S reckons it's perfect for everything from alfresco lunches, Wimbledon snacking, afternoon tea, or even just a sweet pick-me-up. Foodies have been going wild for Japan's iconic 'furūtsu sando', or fruit sando, sandwiches made with fresh fruit and whipped cream, layered between slices of soft, subtly sweet 'shokupan' bread. It's the kind of pastel, Instagram-ready food trend that has been flooding feeds and taking over the UK's trendiest Japanese patisseries. Now, M&S is bringing the buzz to British shelves and shoppers are already eyeing it as the must-try treat of the summer. And it seems M&S is the only major supermarket to be selling the Japanese style sandwiches. The Sun has contacted M&S to find out when exactly the tasty summer treat will land on UK shelves. It's not the first time the retailer has made sandwich history. M&S first sold freshly made sandwiches all the way back in the 1920s and has flogged more than 4billion sarnies since. From cheese boards to chocolatey desserts – treats to supercharge your brain and prevent memory blips The new fruity creation also comes hot on the heels of M&S's newly launched summer café menu, which includes a Matilda cake dupe and an Eton Mess milkshake. New desserts And it's not just M&S turning up the heat in the dessert aisle. Asda has shoppers in a spin with its new Swizzels Squashies Drumstick Dessert Sauce – a nostalgic throwback in a bottle that fans say is a 'sweet blast from the past'. Earlier this month, Quality Street stans were buzzing when a cult-fave toffee dessert made a surprise return after mysteriously vanishing from shelves in 2019. Meanwhile, Aldi gave Dubai 's TikTok-famous chocolate bar a run for its money, launching a £3.99 dupe stuffed with rich pistachio cream and crunchy kadayif pastry, all wrapped in smooth milk chocolate. And on the drinks front, things are getting just as indulgent. Yorkshire Tea has dropped its first-ever iced tea drinks, available in lemon and peach & raspberry – making summer 2025 officially one for sweet treats and cold sips. How to cut the cost of your grocery shop SAVING on your shop can make a big difference to your wallet. Here are some tips from comparison site about how you can cut the cost of your shopping bills: Write yourself a list – Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Create a budget – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping Never shop hungry – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling Don't buy pre-chopped veggies or fruit – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering Use social media – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals Be disloyal – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains Check the small print – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more Use your loyalty cards – Don't be afraid to sign up to them all. They all work slightly differently – work out what bonus suits you better and remember to trade in your points for additional rewards
