We tried cheap custard creams from Aldi, M&S, Sainsbury's and Tesco and one packet left no crumbs

Custard Cream biscuits are a classic sweet treat. Their custardy, cream filling and crumbly shortcake make them the perfect biscuit to dunk in a cup of tea.

In the Liverpool ECHO office in Liverpool city centre, we're big advocates of brews and office treats, so we decided to taste-test a variety of interpretations of the classic biscuit. We tried four variations of the biscuit from Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer. Each reviewer was given one custard cream to try (or possibly more in some cases), and asked to give their rating out of five. There was certainly an office favourite.

Tesco - 60p

Emily Sleight - 4/5

Custard Creams are basically my go to biscuits, and I’ll never say no to one dunked in tea. I’ve always been a massive fan of the M&S custard creams, but after trying the Tesco ones, I think it’s a very close competition.

They were very sweet in taste, but not too sweet, and had a gorgeous golden colour. There was a perfect amount of filling on the inside, and they weren’t too crumbly like some of the cheaper alternatives. I’d definitely get these ones again, they were so moreish.

Charlotte Hadfield - 3/5

When it comes to custard creams or any biscuit for that matter, they need to be dunkable in a brew. I couldn't complain with Tesco's custard creams in terms of their flavour and they didn't disintegrate in my mug after being dunked. However, the biscuit to filling ratio could have been better.

Aldi - 45p

Andrew Durrant - 3/5

The Aldi custard creams were a little on the sweet side for me, probably prefer Sainsbury's one, but perfectly ok to dunk in your tea.

Paul Philbin - 5/5

For some bizarre reason a custard cream is a controversial biscuit choice in offices and households. I don't believe that and think it's always a safe, solid choice. It also reminds me of going to my nan's as a kid, so whenever I have one it feels slightly nostalgic.

Despite being a fan of a custard cream, they do tend to have one downfall. I always worry that the biscuit will crumble too easy and you end up with a third missing from one side, but with Aldi's version, you are in safe hands. The biscuit is solid and the cream part tastes like actual custard. I was a bit wary initially due to the slightly darker colour of the cream than I would expect, but after biting into it my fears were no more and my tastebuds were having a party.

Sainsbury's - 40p

Conaill Corner - 2/5

If someone offers me a custard cream, I’m never going to say no, but I’d certainly prefer that you offered me one from a different supermarket to Sainsbury’s. The Sainsbury’s custard cream meets all the minimum requirements of this famous biscuit, but doesn’t achieve any more than that. A small amount of overly sweet and quite hard cream comes wedged between to quite dry biscuits, making the whole affair disappointing. Even when washed down with a sip of the ECHO office’s generic instant coffee, there was very little to impress.

Courtney Eales - 4/5

Custard creams are up there with my favourite biscuits and I was not disappointed by Sainsbury's version of the classic biscuit. They had that crunch you would want from a biscuit and paired with the perfect amount of creamy filling it made for the perfect snack. I would get these biscuits again and actually, I preferred them over the M&S custard creams which were more expensive.

Steve Graves - 4/5

First things first, these look great. Custard creams are a retro treat and there's something very stylish about the block lettering and ornate pattern on the biscuit here. Sainsbury's are paying homage to the proud history of the biscuit and its place in our national life. Probably. The only slight let-down at first glance is the filling, which looks a touch on the thin side. There's far more biscuit than cream here, but maybe they're on to something. When it comes to eating, the ratio feels just right, with the perfectly-baked biscuits complementing the cream. You can't beat a classic, done properly, and Sainsbury's have nailed it here.

Marks and Spencer - 60p

Kate McMullin - 5/5

I personally think custard creams, as a whole, are hugely underrated in the biscuit world. And M&S for me, when it comes to biscuits, is in a league of its own. So I was excited to try its version of the traditional custard cream and I wasn't disappointed. The 'cream' was lovely and rich and the actual biscuit felt of a high standard and was thicker. With custard creams you usually are just eating it for the filling but I felt like with the M&S version the biscuits on their own were very flavoursome.

Ryan Paton - 4/5

The M&S biscuit more than meets the eye test with a healthy wedge of cream lodged between two biscuits. The M&S emblem usually indicates a mark of quality and this proved to be true with the version of the custard cream. The filling had an air of luxury and was delightfully creamy. Custard creams aren't the most ideal of dunking biscuit but the M&S variety proved to be a good addition to my morning cup of tea.