The cult Colin the Caterpillar cake has been a staple of M&S stores for nearly 36 years, and in that time we’ve seen the range — alongside its loyal fanbase — continue to grow.
From variations like Mini Colins, a Giant Colin, and of course, his female companion Connie, the caterpillar is ubiquitous, to the point it’s inspired countless imitations — and even has its own Instagram account.
But now, in a sensational new development, the supermarket has added a brand new product to its lineup, making M&S’s most requested product ever on social media a reality.
Introducing… Made Without Wheat Gluten Free Colin the Caterpillar Cake.
The gluten-free version of this iconic confection will hit the shelves this week, on Wednesday January 28. And in a major win for the coeliac and GF community, it will retail for £9.50, the same price as the original.
Typically, free-from products are pricier because they’re produced on a smaller scale with more costly ingredients, requiring separate facilities for production to avoid cross-contamination. But M&S hasn’t passed this cost onto its customers.
It boasts an extremely chocolatey sponge cake filled with a rich, velvety chocolate buttercream, all covered in silky milk chocolate, and decorated with a white chocolate face, feet and sugar-coated milk chocolate beans.
This makes it the only GF, rolled sponge celebration cake on the high street.
But the demand for this update to the beloved cake was clearly there, with 79% of M&S customers buying gluten-free products, either for themselves (35%), a family member (22%), or a friend (16%).
Under a recent post about Connie the Caterpillar on the supermarket’s Instagram, one user asked, ‘Could there be a gluten-free cousin?’, while another added: ‘Gluten free Colin would be amazing please,’ added another.
Why we’ve had to wait so long for this innovation
Although M&S has been listening to our wants and needs for a long while now, it had some specific requirements for bringing this cake to stores.
‘It’s been part of our plan for more than five years, however from the beginning we were keen for our Gluten Free Colin cake to be made at the same supplier who has been making the original Colin cake for over 35 years,’ an M&S spokesperson tells Metro.
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‘Before starting recipe development, our supplier needed to invest in a dedicated production facility with equipment exclusively for gluten-free product.’
This means the product has no risk of cross-contamination and is suitable for coeliacs.
‘Since investing in this facility, our supplier has been working for over a year to perfect the recipe without compromising on M&S quality and flavour,’ the company’s representative adds.
The office coeliac’s verdict
As someone who has quietly dreamed of the moment I would get to eat a gluten-free Colin the Caterpillar, I must say I’m thoroughly impressed. In fact, it’s a sensational cake.
From distant memories of having a Colin the Caterpillar before my coeliac diagnosis seven years ago, the resemblance is uncanny. Visually, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart, not one bit (bar the M&S signature Made Without Wheat purple packaging).
The chocolate coating is divine, and the first incredible bite saw it give way to the most moist buttercream and bouncy sponge combination ever.
The cake itself is light and fluffy, and honestly, if I didn’t know it was coeliac-safe, I’d question if I’d been handed the gluten-containing Colin by accident.
It’s an easy and well-deserved 10 out of 10 from me, and the equal pricing is simply the cherry on top. I can finally have my cake and eat it, too.
Can people tell the difference?
While the thoughts of the GF community are the most important here, I also thought it’d be good to see what our gluten-eating Metro employees thought of it.
Enlisting them to do a blind taste test with original Colin and gluten-free Colins to find out how similar they truly are, five out of seven team members correctly identified the GF cake.
However, perhaps more crucially, they all agreed it was pretty darn tasty.
Metro food writer Courtney Pochin, says: ‘If someone handed me a slice of the gluten-free Colin at a party, I’d be absolutely none the wiser; that’s how strikingly similar these two cakes are.
‘Of course, there’s a few subtle texture differences, but they’re so minor that if you weren’t outright looking for them, you likely wouldn’t notice. The original Colin has a slightly lighter and fluffier sponge, while the gluten-free version is a little bit grainier, but not in an unpleasant way.
‘Most importantly, the overall flavour of the cake is spot on, and taste is what really matters here. It’s familiar, nostalgic and a real chocolatey delight. I honestly think M&S have done a cracking job of it.’
‘I’d happily eat either and wouldn’t know for sure it was gluten free if I wasn’t knowingly taste-testing,’ says reporter Maicey Navarro Griffiths.
Opinion editor Ross also makes a good point that there’s considerably more chocolate spread in the gluten-free Colin, to bulk out the sponge cake… but you won’t catch us complaining about that.
Overall, our colleague Jess Aureli put it best, adding: ‘I wouldn’t be unhappy with either!’
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