It appears as though my battle against Pret a Manger is not yet over. Having received a voucher to enjoy a free cake and coffee combination on the company, I was most distressed to discover something amiss. And so I wrote back:
Much as I appreciate the voucher which arrived this morning, and baring in mind that I don’t want to appear ungrateful, I’ve still got to ask… when you say “we’ve taken on board what you say and changed the recipe”, what do you mean?
The main thrust of my original mail was that you’d changed the original (quite delicious) banana cake recipe to include nuts – something I wasn’t at all happy about – and yet the banana cakes lining the Pret shelves at lunchtime today still appear to feature a high proportion of nuts.
What have you changed?
Two days later, I received a reply:
One of the main issues about the change of the cake was that it was dryer than previous. This time around we’ve altered the recipe to make it moister and also added natural banana essence as well as more sun dried bananas.
I’m sorry you don’t like the addition of the nuts but the team decided that the change in texture they wanted could only be achieved with the addition of the nuts.
Hope this answers your query and I’m sorry that in the main you still don’t like the cake – I will pass your comments over to our food team.
Well, that’s all very well and good, but it doesn’t alter the fact that Pret are denying me what had developed into my favourite after lunch treat. I havn’t been this angry since Marks & Spencers removed their almost ambrosial flapjack from the shelves for a period in the early 1990s. I gave it one last shot:
Thanks for the response – the increased dryness was another thing I complained about, and I’m very pleased to see that this has been resolved.
Any chance of getting the recipe for the original?
This time the response was almost immediate:
That’s Ok!
I’m sorry we can’t send you the recipe but I can send you the ingredients
Wheat Flour
Sugar
Banana Pulp
Free Range Eggs
Vegetable Oil
Cream Cheese
Butter
Bicarbonate of Soda
Salt
Happy re-creating!
Happy re-creating indeed! I think it’s now time for the guerilla warfare element of my campain to kick in. What I suggest is that all blogjam readers take the ingredients listed above, practice with the quantities until a fair copy of the original cake is attained, then picket their local Pret a Manger store, offering passers-by the opportunity to compare and contrast their scrumptious creations with the nut-stuffed charlatans sold within.
We shall prevail.