REVIEW: Birthday Cake M&M’s

Birthday Cake M&M's

I would like to put forth an official motion to reach a consensus on what “birthday cake” flavor is supposed to be.

Because from my understanding, birthday cake is akin to cake batter which is akin to a sweet vanilla/butter flavor with lots of rainbow sprinkles. A quick Pinterest search will demonstrate what I mean. Birthdays are a cause for celebration, and the default mindset for that is as much sugar and as much color as possible.

The Birthday Cake M&Ms are not what you’d expect based on the prior cake-flavored evidence, but rather a play on the original Milk Chocolate variety. This is probably fair to the millions of people who prefer the chocolate cake with white frosting on their birthdays and have been forced to eat too many Funfetti-like products. In fact, I would never choose that for my own cake either. By throwing these into the mix, M&M’s may just be trying to prevent a burgeoning birthday market monopolization. So for those who have been scorned by the rainbow sprinkles in the past, these go out to you.

I finally found these at my CVS when I did my annual Valentine’s Day Sale spree. There was a singular box, wrongfully placed in the clearance section. Although these are also sold in an 8-ounce bag, the only size option was the individual pack, which is unfortunate, because I enjoy sharing my candy and/or eating mass quantities of M&M’s without being aware of how much I’m actually consuming. Usually the latter.

Birthday Cake M&M's Wrapper

These are closer in size to Milk Chocolate M&M’s than the recent new M&M’s have been and stick to a simple color palate of blue, red and yellow. I didn’t have any to compare, but I think they’re the same colors you’d find on other M&M’s, possibly a little bit richer. Also important to note they are made with actual Milk Chocolate. Not chocolate-y candy. Not chocolate-confection. Not Count Chocula Crème (this is not a real marketing tactic, but I think it will be soon.) You can rest assured in eating these that your processed food still has some realness to it.

My recent history with M&M’s has not been great. I was disappointed by Pumpkin Spice, puzzled by Gingerbread, and grossed out by Red Velvet. All of these varieties had such potential, but in the end they all ended up tasting like “chemical.” I was assuming this was what I would have to settle for with my bite sized chocolates.

But these are a beacon of hope. A delicacy. A rede-M&M-ption, if you will. I bit into these and immediately started singing “Happy Birthday” to me. Then the Beatles’ “Birthday.” Then Rihanna’s “Birthday Cake.” Then I stopped, because I forgot how incredibly uncomfortable that song makes me.

Birthday Cake M&M's Closeup

The flavor in these is subtle, but it accomplishes the intended goal perfectly. There’s a strong milk chocolate note that then evolves into a buttercream taste that’s not too sweet or overpowering. Perfect match to the cake pictured on the pack. Chemical taste level: zero.

I may not choose these over my beloved Carrot Cake or Peanut Butter M&M’s, but they would certainly be ranked above the original in my book. I will be creating a stockpile of these as well, even if they’re not limited edition. Not only are they delicious, but they also make a fantastic non-perishable last minute gift for birthdays you completely forgot about and were only reminded of when you logged onto Facebook.

Now, you can pretend every day is your birthday without having to lie to waiters at restaurants to get a free dessert. Although, you’re still free to do that do. It’s your fake birthday. You deserve to feel as special as you want.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 pack (1.4oz) – 190 calories, 70 calories from fat, 8 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 25 grams of sugars, and 2 grams of protein.)

Item: Birthday Cake M&M’s
Purchased Price: $1.19
Size: 1.4 oz. bag
Purchased at: CVS
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Not chemically, actually tasty. Appeals to the forgotten birthday cake demographic. Actually tastes like the cake on package. Pretending to remember birthdays. Real milk chocolate. Getting free dessert at restaurants.
Cons: Inconsistencies in the definition of birthday cake. Unsettling Rihanna euphemisms. That uncomfortable public domain birthday song you have to sit through in restaurants to get your free fake-birthday sundae.

11 thoughts to “REVIEW: Birthday Cake M&M’s”

  1. I haven’t seen these.. I am partial to the Cherry M&Ms that seem to only be found during Valentines Day… which is terrible, since I think those are the best M&Ms EVER!

  2. I can’t wait to try these! But I must say in response to the “non-perishable” bit that I think M&Ms with an expiration date any less than 6 months away from the purchase date do not taste as good. I know — sounds nuts. But M&Ms are my favorite candy and I’m a bikini competitor so I can’t eat them as often as I would like, so I have to be crazy and picky with my candy purchases haha. 8-9 months until expiration is the way to go. Heaven in a bag.

  3. OMG yes this review is great. I had the cake m&m’s a few weeks ago and I thought they were okay at the time, but now I have a really weird craving for them. PB and classic will always be my faves though.

  4. I wouldn’t recommend them, I definitely was expecting the confetti esque flavor which is my favorite type of sensation, was disappointed to fine that it tasted like a chocolate cake sweetness level but the candy coating around the chocolate definately really puts a damper on the experience due to its annoying Ness this makes it hard to really appreciate and find the cake flavor

  5. OK let me start by saying this I love M&M’s but I do not taste the birthday in the birthday cake edition me and my son having been buying them randomly from different stores just to see if they are fresh, it seems like the first one you taste a little vanilla then the rest tastes like chocolate. Oh well I like the package is very appealing.

  6. I honestly thought these were disgusting. My favorite have always been the classic peanut m&m’s but these birthday monstrosities are way too sweet. I can feel the cavities forming and I’m only 24. I wish the birthday cake flavor craze would just stick to ice cream and actual cake.

  7. I just got a box of these today because my family went to the M&M’s Spring festival in Hackettstown, NJ. They give away quite a few free items. Anyway I was excited to try them but alas was unimpressed. They are larger than traditional M&M’s, but the flavor (to me) was not much different then the original. I tasted no birthdayness whatsoever, though I wish I had.

  8. The birthday cake m&ms taste like the regular ones not like birthday cake at all. Very disappointed

  9. For those of you who love these, I just picked up 2 bags of the 8oz. size, at PILOT (truck stop/gas station/travel center) — they were marked “Closeout” and so I got them BOGO.

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