A gluten intolerance or coeliac disease no longer means you have to forgo loads of supermarket sweet treats. Nowadays, as well as medicinal advancements, supermarkets stock a wide range of gluten-free products, and that includes a free-from caterpillar cake.
There’s been a lot of hype around caterpillar cakes recently: M&S froze Colin, Cecil had a birthday, and Cuthbert lost his best value for money crown to Sainsbury’s Wiggles. But that’s all noise if Caterpillar cakes play havoc with your digestive system.
So, let’s see what free-from caterpillar cakes are around – we’ll also look into which gluten-free flour alternative they use, as well as which is best value for money.
Despite the rapid expansion of free-from shelves, we were surprised that not many supermarkets had adapted their caterpillars; they are, after all, a popular celebration cake.
Which supermarkets offer a free-from caterpillar cake?
First, let’s run through all of the supermarkets selling gluten-free caterpillar cakes: we’ll take into account their value for money, which gluten-free flour is used, as well as the most important thing – its name.
Best value free-from caterpillar cake – Tesco
You’ll need some imagination for Tesco’s Free From Stripey the Caterpillar, who is decorated, not with stripes as you would expect, but with spots. Stripey is actually spotty, so whoever came up with the design probably needs to go to Specsavers. Stripey looks as though he lived up to his namesake once upon a time, but not anymore.
What gluten-free flours does Stripey the Caterpillar contain, you may wonder. Well it’s an exact copy of Sainsbury’s four flour list:
- Rice flour
- Tapioca flour
- Maize flour
- Potato flour
Next up, value.
- Price: £8.50
- Recommended servings: 12
- Price per slice: £0.70
At 70 pence per slice, Tesco’s Free From Stripey Caterpillar cake is the best value of the three supermarkets offering a free-from caterpillar.
Runner up – Sainsbury’s
On Sainsbury’s free-from shelf you’ll find Eric the Caterpillar. For £7.50, you’ll get 10 servings (59.2g per slice, apparently). Eric is not only suitable for coeliacs, but it’s also free from milk and nuts. Notice though, it doesn’t specifically say Eric is dairy free, so make sure you read the label if your body doesn’t agree with dairy.
What type of flours does Sainsbury’s caterpillar contain? Looking at the ingredient list, it contains a variety:
- Rice flour
- Tapioca flour
- Potato flour
- Maize flour
Given that Eric has an average of two stars on its reviews, you’ll have to try it for yourself to decide if it’s worth buying.
Next, let’s look at Eric the Caterpillar’s value for money:
- Price: £7.50
- Recommended servings: 10
- Price per slice: £0.75
At 75p a slice, Free From Eric is the second best value, a massive five pence behind the winner.
Asda
Asda is going for the best alliteration award with their Free From Frieda the Caterpillar Cake. For £8.38, you’ll get a caterpillar that supposedly serves 10. We all know that recommended servings never make it into real life, so 10 might be a stretch.
Flour-wise, Frieda contains:
- Rice flour
- Cornflour (this one is on the ingredient list twice)
- Maize flour
- Buck wheat flour
Asda, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s both use four types of flour, with all cakes sharing rice and maize flour, but differing on the other two.
How does Free-From Frieda the Caterpillar Cake measure up in the value for money test?
- Price: £8.48
- Recommended servings: 10
- Price per slice: £0.85 (we’ve rounded)
Frieda the Caterpillar’s 85p slice puts Asda’s free-from caterpillar into last place. It’s the most expensive per slice, with flour twins Tesco and Sainsbury’s taking 1st and 2nd place.
What about the other supermarkets?
It’s a no from them. Even M&S, the pioneers of the caterpillar cake, don’t cater to free-from shoppers.
Some of the supermarkets, like Morrisons and Co-op, stock Lazyday’s Vic, a mini caterpillar cake sold in packs of four. Morrisons want £3.80 per pack, making each serving 95p, which is way more expensive than buying one of the celebration-size caterpillars above. The only thing the little caterpillars would be good for school lunchboxes.
