Caltex Chocolate Cake aka Celine’s Bakeshop Choco Midnight Fudge
VS.
Shell Chocolate Cake aka Ms. Polly’s Specialty Cakes and Desserts Chocolate Cake
Sometimes I would come home late from the office and my wife will be disappointed. I always make sure that I have chocolates as pasalubong to appease her heart and tummy — and usually it works. One day, we had a lovers quarrel and she said that no amount of chocolate in the whole world can fix our misunderstanding. I told myself that this is the perfect time to try out the chocolate cakes of Caltex in Buendia/ Pasong Tamo and Shell Magallanes, which a lot of people are raving about. These gasoline cakes passed with flying colors because both of them are equally very good and my wife was happy 🙂 !
If you would ask me which one is better, I would have a hard time answering. We even tasted the chocolate cakes side by side but still it was a close call. But of course, only one can win the Battle of the Gasoline Cakes!
Round 1: Packaging/ Overall Presentation
The Caltex Cake is packaged in a simple box with a matte gold cover. When you see the cake in the circle opening there is a yin yang feel to it. There is no branding on the box. This zen-inspired packaging is very attractive on the shelves of Caltex Starmart.
On the other hand, the Shell Cake is packaged in a brown box with a carton feel. The shiny icing of the chocolate cake peaks out of the box and entices you to eat the cake. There is a Ms. Polly’s Specialty Cakes branding with logo and a Reason to Believe (RTB) sticker highlighting the recognition the cake received as one of the Outstanding Dessert by Food Magazine last June 2005. This chocolate cake is also part of dessertcomesfirst’s 10 Best Desserts in Manila. It was nice that the contact number and baked date are indicated in the box.
The verdict: Shell Cake packaging wins this round because it is very informative and it assures you that the cake is baked fresh. The overall marketing elements entices you to grab the cake right out of the bottom of the shelves in Shell Select.
Round 2: Inside Appeal
You pay P340 for the whole Caltex cake and a slice would costs you P45 pesos. You won’t get excited with the traditional appearance of the cake and it doesn’t help that the fudge icing is not appealing.
You pay P360 for the whole Shell cake and a square slice would costs you P26 pesos. The shiny icing is very tempting and invites you to indulge in its chocolate goodness. Its moist icing presentation is very inviting.
The Verdict. The Shell cake wins again because of its shiny and moist chocolate icing !
Round 3: Chocolate Moment of Truth
The Caltex choco midnight fudge cake has a heavy and sticky sponge cake. The fudge icing is very sweet with a dense consistency. You tend to get full easily after eating just one slice. The strength of this cake is in its sweet fudge icing.
The Shell Polly’s cake, on the other hand, has a light “airy” sponge cake. After eating one square slice, you would crave for one more and one more then another. The moist icing has the right amount of sweetness but I would prefer the fudge icing of Caltex cake instead. The strength of this cake is in the taste of its sponge cake.
Verdict: This was a close call since both are equally good and both passed my wife’s taste buds. It is a matter of preference and I like Shell Polly’s cake.
The Winner by Unanimous Decision!
Ms. Polly’s Specialty Cakes and Desserts
Tel no. +632 824 7612.
Have you tasted both of them? Which one would you prefer — The Caltex Chocolate Cake or the Shell Chocolate Cake?
More Desserts For You:
Chocolat Cakes — Best Chocolate Dessert Place in Mall of Asia!
Sonja’s Cupcakes— Creating the Cupcake Craze in the Philippines?
What an awful awful post! Just when I’ve made up my mind to be serious about losing weight this post comes along! Argh! Good thing I’m not in Manila right now. I wonder where in Vancouver I can find something like this…
Yipee! Ms. Polly wins!
I love Polly’s, and another blogger suggested trying her chocolate cake frosted with mocha, Brown Derby. But I’m curious about the other cake, what is the label?
looks so good… where can i order 1?
that choc cake looks awesome!!! wish i could be in the phils!
anton, my first time to leave a comment here, but i’ve been reading your blogs for sometime now. keep on bloggin! nice job!
firefly/zephyr, i’ve been here in vancouver for more than 2 years, haven’t found cakes that are at least comparable to ours! i’ll keep on searchin though.
Interesting post — you may want to retitle your post though. reading “Gasoline Cake” made me think that you were reviewing cakes with gasoline (i.e. petrol) in them. Or maybe I’m just weird. =)
Hi Anton! I’m a regular reader of your blog. Thanks, thanks for posting yummy food finds. I haven’t tasted the Caltex cake but I love,love,love Ms. Polly’s chocolate cake. It’s best eaten after it has been chilled overnight in the fridge. That way it will be more fudgy and less spongy = )
Tricia
I’ve tasted polly’s as well – its great! but my family loves another choco cake maker, who’s a friend of my dad’s. Although they do sell choco cakes, they don’t have a real shop and you’ll have to order one at least 2 days ahead and pick it up at greenhills east.
Unlike polly’s though, this cake is heavier and is best eaten after 10 secs in the microwave with vanilla ice cream on top :p
wah..nakakagutom naman..nice blog.
Hi,
I only got to try the Polly’s choclate cake and it was indeed very very good. The cake was very moist and dark and the icing was very shiny with the right amount od sweetness. The best thing is that it is very affordable so I can have it all the time.
Thanks for the tip Anton.
I’ve tried both and as you so eloquently mentioned in this post: it depends on the individual’s preference i.e. different horses for different courses.
I must admit that I prefer the Caltex cake over Shell’s. I like the heavy fudge icing and the consistency of the cake itself. But hey – it’s me talking… It is up to each of your reader’s palate to make the call. Both of the cakes are quite good.
BTW: The guy at the Caltex Starmart mentioned that the cake is also available at their other stations e.g. Caltex Alabang, Caltex C-5 and Caltex Wilson just in case the hustle and bustle of Buendia is too much for you.
Other than Shell Magallanes, where else can you buy Ms. Polly’s chocolate cake?
I think it’s sweet how you try to appease your wife with chocolate. Excellent post, Anton! I particularly like that photo with the fork sinking into the cake.
it’s nice how you spark up your relationship with a trivial (trivial to me, that is) thing. and about the choco cakes, i’m quite biased. i’ll say caltex cake is still the best. but my friend’s choco cake is more ravishing. hope you could taste it.
you may get ms polly’s superb chocolate cake at merville, paranaque. if you are not familiar with the area, better get it from magallanes na lang.
i can say, that cake is very sinful. Ü
I prefer the Caltex cake & its such a hit especially when we bring it for potluck or when we visit friends & relatives:)
Hi! Have you heard of bake and churn ice cream cakes? Please email me of its Metro Manila branches. Thanks. Nice feature you have here. I love cakes!
try bake & churn ice cream cakes with branches at SM MANILA, SM NORTH, SM FAIRVIEW, SM MARILAO, SM DASMA, SM MOLINO, SM BATANGAS AND SM SOUTHMALL. 044-202-5773 mysnowjoe@yahoo.com 0917-882-6139
try bake & churn ice cream cakes with branches at SM MANILA, SM NORTH, SM FAIRVIEW, SM MARILAO, SM DASMA, SM MOLINO, SM BATANGAS AND SM SOUTHMALL. 044-202-5773 mysnowjoe@yahoo.com 0917-882-6139
polly’s cake slice now retails 32pesos. talk about rising prices.
Anton! Have you tried the new chocolate cake at AMICI? It’s really good!