Choose individually wrapped breakfast cake if you’re looking for portions for your Christmas shopping that can go straight into lunchboxes. A larger, pre-sliced cake is better for sharing at home when you want to portion it yourself. For each option, compare the ingredients, sugars, fibre and allergens on the current label; a claim such as ‘less sugar’ doesn’t answer all those questions.
You want to portion breakfast cake for school, work or trips without having to slice it first. Albert Heijn lists Peijnenburg Naturel in a 10-pack, with ten individually wrapped 28 g slices; PLUS and Lidl also show packs of six bars.
You put breakfast cake out for a shared breakfast or coffee break and decide how many slices to serve. Jumbo shows larger sliced and unsliced sizes; ALDI lists a pre-sliced cake from Koek & Bakker.
You want to check the sugars and fibre per 100 g and per portion before buying, or see which allergens are listed on the pack. Check the option you choose: you can’t tell the ingredients and warnings from the brand name alone.
Before you do your Christmas shopping, decide whether the breakfast cake is mainly for lunchboxes or for serving at home. Then choose the right size and read the label on the option you want to buy.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Individual lunchbox portions | Count the portions, check the weight per piece and see whether they’re individually wrapped. | If I’m dividing breakfast cake between several lunchboxes, I want pieces I can take along without slicing. For roughly 42% of consumers, having set individual portions is the top priority. |
| Sharing at home | Check the total weight and whether the cake is sliced or unsliced. | For sharing at home, I’d rather portion the cake myself than use a separate wrapper for everyone. For around 33% of consumers, sharing this way is the top priority. |
| Ingredients and allergens | Read the ingredients, allergen information and nutrition details per 100 g and per portion. | When comparing options, I want to compare the sugars and fibre and check whether rye or other allergens are listed. For around 25% of consumers, checking the label is the main consideration. |
A claim like this doesn’t tell you by itself how much sugar and fibre a particular breakfast cake contains. You still need to check for allergens, too.
Compare the nutrition information per 100 g and per portion, and read the ingredients list on the pack you’re buying.
According to PLUS, its Naturel breakfast cake bars list rye and may contain, among other things, wheat, milk, almond and hazelnut. This information applies to this option, not automatically to other breakfast cakes.
Check the current label for each option, even if you’ve bought a product from the same brand before.
The Dutch Commodities Act Decree defines baker’s salt as iodised table salt used in bread and other bakery products. That definition doesn’t mean it’s in every breakfast cake.
Check the ingredients list on the specific pack if the type of salt used matters to your choice.
These brands and supermarket ranges offer different breakfast cake formats; check the product and label for each option.
Peijnenburg offers larger cakes and a Naturel 10-pack of individual portions.
Jumbo offers own-brand breakfast cake in larger sliced and unsliced sizes, as well as six-piece options.
PLUS offers Naturel breakfast cake bars in a pack of six.
Lidl lists cake bars in packs of six, including spiced raisin cake and a breakfast cake option labelled ‘less sugar’.
The sliced wholemeal breakfast cake from Koek & Bakker listed by ALDI is a larger size to portion at home.
These products show two options for your Christmas shopping: breakfast cake to take with you as individual portions, and a larger, pre-sliced cake to share at home. For the take-along size, check whether the pieces are individually wrapped; with the sliced cake, you can portion it yourself.
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Consider this size if you want breakfast cake to take with you; check the packaging to see how many pieces are individually wrapped. The product name gives the weight as 250 g. For sugars, fibre and allergens, read the current label rather than inferring these values from the option’s name.
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The sliced format is ideal for sharing at home when you want to decide how many slices to serve. The product name gives the weight as 485 g; consider how you’ll wrap the slices for taking with you. If you have allergies, read the ingredients and allergen information on the physical label before using this product.
Choose individually wrapped portions if you want to divide breakfast cake between lunchboxes without slicing it. Albert Heijn lists Peijnenburg Naturel in a 10-pack, with ten individually wrapped 28 g slices; for packs of bars, also check the number of pieces and whether each one is individually wrapped.
No. Read the allergen information for the specific breakfast cake before buying or using it. PLUS lists rye and warnings about the possible presence of other allergens for its Naturel breakfast cake bars; according to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, allergens must be listed on food labels.
That doesn’t follow from the Dutch definition of baker’s salt. The Commodities Act Decree describes baker’s salt as iodised table salt for bread and other bakery products, but that doesn’t establish that a particular breakfast cake is made with it. Check the ingredients list if this matters to your choice.
Follow the storage instructions and best-before information on the packaging for the option you choose. For G'woon less-sugar cake bars, Joybuy says to store them in a cool, dry place and close the pack securely after opening; don’t assume this product-specific advice applies to other breakfast cakes.
