I tried the Tunis Cake Tesco brought back from the 1980s - this is why they should have left it there

Nobody was going wild in Tesco in Leyland, I can tell you. There were plenty of orange boxes left on the shelf when I went to pick one up, and the lady on the checkout said she’d not seen many going though the tills.

But there I was, spending £10 on a Tunis Cake, to see what I was missing. And it turns out not a lot, but we’ll get into that later.

So, what is a Tunis Cake? I had no idea, even though I’m from the ‘80s myself. Well, it turns out it’s an alternative to a Christmas cake made from Madeira sponge, with a layer of ‘chocolate flavoured topping’, marzipan decorations and buttercream.

Tesco have absolutely nailed the box and decorations, to be fair to them. Everything about it says church hall, Nana’s old recipe book, kids party done by parents. It was absolutely splendid.

But the cake? Now, that’s where it all falls down. The Madeira was crumbly and dry. The chocolate-flavoured topping (whatever that is) was just ok, and the buttercream was...sweet. It was bland. It was boring and not worth the calories - or £10.

Absolutely not an alternative to Christmas cake that will be appearing in my house. I understand why this died out in the ‘80’s. A gimmick by Tesco that should have been executed as well as the aesthetics.