Starbucks Carrot Cake

Starbucks Carrot Cake costs £4.50 and carries 505 calories with 40g of sugar and 5.4g of fibre. A spiced carrot sponge with a cream cheese style frosting.

5.4g of fibre is the second highest figure in the Bakery case behind the cinnamon bun, and the reason is genuinely the vegetable. Grated carrot brings fibre that flour alone would not, and this is one of the few places on the menu where an ingredient people treat as a token gesture is doing measurable work.

That is where the good news stops. 40g of sugar is third highest on the menu, salt at 0.9g is the highest in the Bakery case by a clear margin, and 28g of fat with 9.5g saturated puts it among the richer slices. Carrot cake has a reputation as the sensible cake and the numbers do not support it.

Cream cheese frosting is where much of both the sugar and the saturated fat sit. A frosting of that type is roughly two parts icing sugar to one part cheese and butter, so the topping alone can carry more sugar than the sponge underneath it.

Walnuts are the traditional inclusion and they earn their place beyond texture. Their slight bitterness cuts frosting that would otherwise be relentlessly sweet, which is why a carrot cake made without them tastes flatter than the ingredient list suggests it should.

The salt figure is worth a word because 0.9g in a cake is unusual. Bicarbonate of soda is the likely source, since a heavy spiced batter needs more raising agent than a plain sponge, and it contributes sodium directly rather than through added salt.

Soya, egg, almonds, wheat and milk are declared, and no diet label is published. Prices reach £5.45 on delivery, which makes it the most expensive slice in the case. The banana nut loaf is the lighter cake option at 368 calories.