Testing Easter Simnel cake and chocolate treats is a tough job, but someone's got to do it - luckily Shoptalk mangaed to find some volunteers

SO now you've had your Hot Cross Buns - yes, I know they've been in the shops since Boxing Day, but today's the day you're really meant to eat them - what are you going to have for tea on Sunday?

How about Simnel cake?

It's a traditional treat. Surprisingly it was originally meant for Mothering Sunday. It might seem odd to have a rich fruit cake, thick with marzipan in the middle of abstemious Lent, but it was part of that tradition of servant girls going home and taking with them a substantial present for Mum, presumably, actually, a present from their wealthy employers.

Gradually, Simnel cake has been pushed out of the Mother's Day way by flowers, chocolates and over-priced gimmicks but has re-located as an Easter treat and, in recent years, has become more popular. You might never have thought about baking a Simnel cake but now at least you can buy them in the shops.

Unlike Christmas cakes, they're not iced, but they're heavy on the marzipan - a sticky layer in the middle and another thick glazed layer on top. Traditionally, they are also decorated with twelve little balls of marzipan, said to represent the twelve apostles. There are also some decorated with spring flowers and Easter chicks. I'm sure the apostles don't mind.

We tried some of the cakes on offer - with the help of Northern Echo photographers who are always such discerning gourmets.

THE BEST

SAINSBURYS Simnel cake (£7.99)

This looked lovely with a nice golden glaze. The fruit cake itself was rich and moist with a good sticky marzipan layer in the middle. The whole thing tasted vaguely citrussy - not surprising as the sultanas had been marinated in fresh orange juice. Despite all that butter and fruit, it was a surprisingly light cake and a very good special occasion treat. The photographers loved it.

GOOD VALUE

ASDA Simnel (£4.98)

This was a fairly small cake and looked unexciting - rather pale and anaemic marzipan and really not very appetising. However, it tasted very good - nice and fruity and moist, with a proper almond-tasting layer in the middle. This is excellent if you just want a small taste of Simnel.

And you can always stick a fluffy chick on it to make it look prettier.

WORTH TRYING

MARKS & SPENCER Simnel (£8.50) This looked quite good - golden toasted marzipan, nicely decorated, except for what looked like some fried mushrooms in the middle. Then we realised that these were meant to be violets. It tasted fine, but wasn't quite as moist as the others and seemed a bit more solid.

MOST DISAPPOINTING

BETTY'S Simnel (£6.95)

Betty's in Northallerton and York do a wonderful range of Simnel cakes, from small oval ones to a big circular size complete with traditional "apostle" decorations at more than £16. They all look lovely, real works of art. We chose the smallest size which didn't have apostles on it, but was very prettily decorated with a pussy willow pattern. Very springlike.

However, it wasn't very nice to eat. Although it seemed to have plenty of fruit, it was dry, crumbly and unpalatable and no one really wanted to finish their slice. A great shame and the disappointment is always worse when your expectations are so high.

CHILDREN'S TREATS

Simnel cake is probably wasted on most children. There probably are children who love fruit cake and marzipan, but we haven't met many. Much more fun for them are all the little nest cakes and decorated shortbread biscuits from your local baker.

The cornflake cake nests score particularly high for realism as well as taste. Some of the chocolate cakes were a bit too much and much too messy. Shortbread biscuits iced in chick and rabbit shapes were fairly successful.

And our youngest tester liked the chick we bought from Woodheads in Richmond Co-op - the body was a Cadbury's Creme Egg with a head and feet of marzipan and jelly. You certainly only need one of those.

BEST BUYS FOR CHILDREN

Favourites were all the variations on the chocolate nest and mini eggs theme. For very tiny ones, favourites were the Marks and Spencer Mini Nests, which were bite-sized. But at £2.99 for 12, that worked out at 25p a mouthful.

Other favourites included Lemon Bakewell tarts (99p from Morrisons, £1.20 from Mr Kipling)

Cadbury's do Mini Nests - five for £1.45, and a family sized nest gateau for £1.79. They were amazingly sickly. One mouthful was too much for adult palates and even children who loved them soon found them a bit too much of a good thing.

Better to treat them to a pack of Cadbury Mini Eggs cake mix - £1.99 for them to make themselves. Not quite so sickly and it will entertain them for a while.

BEWARE - Many little cakes were decorated with spring chicks made of icing, fondant or chocolate, designed to be eaten but some were actually fur and plastic creations, definitely not meant to go down a tiny throat.

Make sure your child knows which is which.