Tesco shoppers delighted as popular 80s treat returns to shop shelves

Tesco shoppers have gone wild after spotting the return of one relic bakery item which has been absent from stores since the 1980s.

Eagle-eyed shoppers were quick to spot the unique Tunis cake back on supermarket shelves for £10 - following a 40 year hiatus. 

The historic Tunis Cake, often eaten as an alternative to Christmas cake, features a soft madeira sponge and thick layer of chocolate icing.

Disguising its sponge interior, the Tunis Cake is coated in rich chocolate icing before being finished with piped vanilla frosting and vibrant marzipan fruit decorations. 

Though it's unclear exactly when it made its return, the arrival of the retro bake appears to have been recent, and is likely back for the festive period, with Tunis Cake having previously been traditionally eaten at Christmas.

Despite its popularity, the cake is scarcely seen in supermarkets, making the re-release particularly exciting for keen munchers of the decadent treat. 

The supermarket are selling a £10 version of the cake by the brand Say it with Cake. 

On a Facebook post made revealing the retro find, hundreds took to the comments to express their excitement over the return of the family favourite.

 One wrote: 'My mum brought for Christmas. Glad it's back. Happy memories,' while a second wrote 'ee had one every Christmas when I was a kid'.

Another recalled having one 'every Christmas with a kid.'

A fourth keenly tagged a friend writing: 'We need to investigate this.' 

While the origins of the Tunis cake is unknown, its thought its origins date back to Edwardian times. 

A commercial version was produced by Scottish bakery Macfarlane Langs in the 1930s. The brand merged with McVitie & Price in 1948, to create a new company called United Biscuits (the current owner of McVitie's).

The new brand acquired the recipe, and McVitie's stocked a commercial version in supermarkets in the 1980s. 

The cake may have been named after one Tunis warrior during the Carthage Empire - who is thought to have celebrated victories won over Rome by serving Madeira wine and cake.  

McVitie's recipe was said to been created by Elizabeth Ewing of Inverness, whose husband was a baker at the company and had created the cake after eating a similar one while stationed in Tunisia during World War II. 

The cake is so popular that the McVitie's variety - which was axed in the 80s - has an entire Facebook page dedicated to campaigning its return.

The Facebook group is called 'McVities Tunis Cake Campaign' and has nearly 3,000 members. 

The description of the campaign reads: 'Christmas (in the 70's and 80's) was never complete without the obligatory McVitie's Tunis Cake.' 

'While I don't mind Christmas pud and Christmas cake, for people that prefer chocolate to dried fruit (and who doesn't ?), the Tunis cake is the perfect post Xmas dinner dessert,' the creator of the page wrote. 

The group hope to see the rerelease of the famed McVitie's version of the sweet treat, which they claim can't be replicated.

'I know that nothing that I am going to bake is likely to compare to the beautiful looking, professionally made McVitie's original,' the creator of the group penned. 

After McVitie's discontinued its famed Christmas alternative, M&S followed suit - though the chain rereleased the cake last festive season, much to the delight of fans. 

Fans have also spotted other supermarkets jumping on the resurgence with Sainsbury's reportedly selling own versions.