By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
Chocolate crackles and fairy bread may have been a constant across millions of suburban childhood birthday parties. However, the (proverbial) icing on the cake was always a (literal) slice of Woolies mud cake.
This accessible, affordable and absolutely delicious dessert has marked many a change-of-age milestone, softened countless office farewells (and meltdowns) and became the unofficial dessert of just about every communal - or solo - celebration.
So, how did a simple $7 – yes, the price has risen, but that’s another story - treat manage to become a national treasure without so much as a fondant flourish? So beloved that Woolworths sells more than 2.6 million of them every year. That’s five mud cakes every minute.
Perhaps it’s because Woolies’ mud cakes are practically an Australian rite of passage. A 600-gram chunk of naughty-but-nice nostalgia. Whether you were cutting into one at a backyard party with a plastic knife, or sneaking forkfuls from the fridge straight out of the plastic tray (no judgment), chances are a Woolies’ mud cake has been there for one of your core memories.
It could be the simplicity. A piece-of-cake creation so humble that even Hollywood heavyweight and local legend Chris Hemsworth gave it a birthday shoutout on social media. Thor himself, choosing this classic cake over a custom Hollywood patisserie and proving that you don’t need gold leaf or 14 tiers to win hearts. Just a dense slice of Aussie-made magic that’s worth its weight in icing.
Maybe it was a willingness to embrace reinvention, with Woolies regularly releasing limited-edition flavours - like Rocky Road - that quickly earned cult cake status. Except for the pumpkin spice version, which was almost universally panned as un-Australian!
The latest example is the Choc Chip Cookie Mud Cake - dropping in Woolworths stores and online from Tuesday, June 10.
Developed by the Woolies Bakery dream team, this latest concoction starts with a rich caramel mud cake base and is packed with generous chunks of choc chip cookie throughout. It’s gooey, chewy and crumb-pletely irresistible.
According to Woolworths’ Chief Cake Maker Laura McLeod (a title we’d like on our next business card):
"What’s really special about our new Choc Chip Cookie Mud Cake is how we’ve infused that unmistakable, beloved flavour of freshly-baked choc chip cookies right into our signature caramel mud cake. We know Aussies have a real passion for that classic cookie taste, so by combining it with our popular mud cake, we’ve aimed to create an irresistible new treat.”
Want to have your cake, and eat it too? Stock up before this one sells out - because in the ever-changing world of Aussie food trends, one thing’s for sure: You can’t top a Woolies mud cake. However, when you add cookies to it, you get a Modern Australian creation that well and truly takes the cake!
