A Big Hello and Goodbye

This is just a quick post to explain my absent on this blog the past few months. As I hinted at in previous posts I have decided to move away from reviewing sweet things exclusively. So instead I have started a brand new blog called Geek Boy Babbles.

I have already posted a few pages on there. So if you are missing my blog at all you can always find me here: http://geekboybabbles.blogspot.co.uk/

Hope to see you soon.

Turkish Delight time

So last week marked the start of lent. I myself am giving something up, not out of any religious belief. No, I give up something because I am rather stubborn and enjoy a good challenge.

What have I given up? Well I hope you’re sitting down for this… I’m giving up the sweet cocoa ambrosia itself, chocolate! Shocking I know and many of you may shout impossible or fear for my wellbeing. Fear not friends, this is my fourth year of giving up the smooth stuff that pretty much flows through my veins. Two of these three previous attempts have been successful. The first time in fact went so well it stretched until Christmas! Last year was the failure and I only lasted a week before caving to my craving. It wasn’t my fault a friend made me do it. Honest!

So what can I possibly be reviewing as a result? Well not chocolate clearly as that’s well and truly out the window for the time being. But fear not I present to you some uncoated Turkish delight.  Weirdly though a firm lover of jelly and general gummy-ness I have never given it the time of day, until now that is. Before I have often been a bit turned off by the perfume aroma, it smelled a bit too much like soap or Grandma. Neither of which were really that mouth-watering as prospects go.

However due to recent developments I found and purchased this box thinking it’s time to take a dive into Turkish territory (should probably rephrase that as it’s rather controversial topic that!). Anyway this box doesn’t just contain the regular Rose flavour, No! It has lemon too! So without further ado and a lack of sugar I pop one in my mouth, pausing only to take in the soapy smell.

I take a Rose one first and am immediately surprised at the gummy texture. It’s quite pleasant and an odd mixture of gummy bear and rubber. Whilst this doesn’t exactly sound nice I kind of like it. Perhaps the chocolate shortage has caused me to go mad… madder. People have told me in the past that the texture is the turn off, too rubbery but I find it’s rather like a slightly warm wine gum. Not too chewy either as it melts really quickly and smoothly in the mouth. The taste isn’t too bad either with a nice Rose hint without being over powering or like swallowing washing powder. The lemon was just as great with a nice subtle sweet taste unlike the usual bitterness.

Overall both were nice, a reason I like to break the odd habit every now and then. You never know what you’re missing out on.

Score
Rose - 6 out of 11
Lemon - 6 out of 11

Found
Lidl

Final Thoughts
Sorry for the late post, still rather busy and lacking the usual chocolate sugar rushes.

Cadbury Combinations

I know, I know once again I haven't posted in an age. Fear not I haven't given up blogging. It's just been a combination of being snowed over by University essays and a lack of Internet in my house for about a week. As I say have no fear as I will keep trying to post and hopefully there will be something exciting on the horizon for my blog.
But before I divulge too much information I will talk about some new products I have tried recently. Once again Cadbury seems to be having some kind of crazy inspiration phase and have released a lot of new products. Two of which I have tracked down and tried recently. These are the Ritz and Lu cracker combinations that have been released. I found these rather easily after hearing about them and they immediately surprised me in a few ways. Firstly their price at fifty pence for four rather large squares I was impressed by the quality for my moneys worth. They come in a nifty snack size packet that can also be resealed, which is awesome in two ways.
Taste wise I was mostly impressed by the Ritz version which has a nice salty Ritz cracker taste that's quickly followed by the usual Cadbury milk chocolate sweetness. Which is where I found a problem, namely that the chocolate is rather overpowering. Worse still is that the Lu cracker has no discernible flavour of it's own and really only adds a crunch to the slab of chocolate.

The tiny crackers are soooo cute 

Perhaps there is indeed a problem with how sweet the Cadbury milk chocolate is. The UK version is well known for being much sweeter than it's continental counter parts but usually I have no quams with it. I love how creamy and intense the flavour is alone but in combination bars it would be nice if they could reign it in somewhat. It feels a bit pointless in bars such as these and the other combo ranges, when all you really can taste is the chocolate. Perhaps I'm expecting too much.


Overall these are nice bars and at a good size/price, but perhaps it's time we reigned in the sweetness.

May have been a bit disappointing but it didn't go down the (snigger) loo!

Score
Ritz - 6 out of 11
Lu - 5 out of 11

Found
One Stop convenience minishop

Final Thoughts
Something wickedly exciting this way comes!

Lindor Strawberries & Cream

So today is my birthday, the day when I deserve to do whatever I want to! Want to know what I choose? Well being a now 21 year old student at university I think the answer is pretty much expected. I want to stay in doors eat chocolate and blog about it. Admittedly not the most exciting ways to celebrate but considering the weather today and my boring nature I think it's rather understandable.

Plus there is some excitement to be had indoors, actually quite a lot, in fact most excitement happens in doors. Anyway back on task, yes there is excitement to be had. As I have found the elusive Lindor Strawberries and Cream limited edition I mentioned in my last post. Admittedly it didn't take me long, although I bought them from somewhere selling them at practically double the price of Sainsbury's. I hope that they are worth it, if not I'll be doubly depressed in money and taste buds.

What a beautiful day!

To be on the safe side at the same time I also purchased a box of the coconut Lindor's too, again at a slightly inflated price. Then again I am a sucker for an impulse buy and still have access to a student loan, lets face it who needs good food when baked beans are 25 pence? So first up the coconut Lindor's in their baby blue foil. which after unwrapping allows me to take in a very sweet coconut aroma that signals good times ahead.

For once the coloring isn't dictating gender

Biting through the usual thick and creamy milk chocolate shell, easily melting like fudge on the tongue I gain access to the coconut core. A smooth and also creamy ganache which whilst appearing solid has a thick liquid like texture to it. The taste of coconut is intense and very sweet without becoming sickly. Together the flavours become very rich and suffer from Lindor's usual problem of feeling a bit heavy. I often can't and won't have more than a couple at a time because they can become sickly and filling.

This won't, however, stop me from popping the next one in my mouth. Contrasting the baby blue theme with a pale pink I unwrap the foil. The smell isn't quite as powerful with only a hint of strawberry. Throwing one in my mouth whole in excitement I'm met with an amazing taste of subtly sweet strawberry and milky white chocolate. Whilst not tasting exactly as it title suggests, more of strawberry milkshake than the summer dessert, it still tastes amazing. I hope this one isn't too much of a limited edition and carries on long after valentines day.

Though I didn't feel very manly nomming these, damn you society!

Overall both were nice if a little expensive. It's my own fault I could probably have got these on offer in in a week, but it is my special day so I pampered myself.
poundland

Score
coconut 7 out of 11
strawberries 8 out of 11

Found
Superdrugs

Final Thoughts
Celebrating birthdays always seem odd to me, yay I survived another day... Again!

Thorton's Strawberry Heart Lolly

It’s an odd time for chocolate at the moment, a time when the confectionary aisle has developed the worrying traits of split personality disorder. There seems to be a battle going on between the forces of Valentine’s Day and Easter. Retailers aren’t quite sure which to focus on. Add to that the problem of left over Christmas stock (and god-forbid Halloween) you have a three way war on my attention and my wallet.

                It’s Valentine’s Day that’s the problem, you see it is only one day so understandably they don’t want to prepare too much, except unlike Halloween it’s a single day that is very heavily gift orientated. It’s odd how us humans can take a concept of love and easily interweave that with money. Essentially the day is proving you love someone with items, which ironically is against its very idea. However this is a rather negative way of looking at it and hay ho it also means lots of lovely chocolate!

They won't evade capture for long!

                I’ve seen the usual influx of new and limited products sweeping the shelves in anticipation of the big day, the one I most want to try is Lindor’s strawberry and cream. It seems however everyone else has the same wish and I find that the shelf is bare when I go to grab a box. As you can imagine this leaves me slightly disappointed and with a hole inside, a hole only chocolate can fill. For instance the other day on finding a lack of product I consoled myself with a Thornton’s strawberry and white chocolate love heart. These are pretty big too so it definitely cheered me up after the devastating lack of Lindor.

                They look nice and obviously fittingly themed and shaped, although the fact that it’s on a stick worries me. It’s a rather horrific idea if you think about this in another way. I get the obvious symbolism of, here (insert loved ones name) take my love (represented by heart shape).  Lovely on the face of it, except in this instance they will then devour your love leaving you with a stick and a wrapper ready for the bin. Perhaps I’m thinking too much or maybe I’m just a terrible cynic.

Mine didn't last long enough for photos

                As a chocolate it’s nice though so I’d quite happily devour it. Really this is just a re-sized and re-shaped Thornton’s strawberry smile, but those taste great anyway so I’m not complaining. It has a great sweet fruity aroma which carries through to the taste. As soon as you bite down you get a beautifully sweet strawberry taste that’s neither over powering nor artificial. It melts perfectly too with the texture of cream, fitting rather considering the age old British summer tradition. The mix with the white chocolate is what provides the delicious texture and creamy aftertaste that thankfully doesn’t distract from the fruit taste.

                Overall these Valentine’s Day treats are great and it will be a shame once they have left us alone and seeking comfort in a weeks’ time. Then I will need consoling again, this time I’m thinking mini-eggs!

Score
7 out of 11

Found
Superdrug

Final Thoughts
By Easter is Christmas chocolate retro?

Slug and Lettuce Winchester

January was a bit of a fail really! I’m sure I can’t be the only one glad to see the back of it. The whole month is notoriously thought of as the most draining and dreary month of the year. It even contains the least productive and downright depressing day of the year Blue Monday!

                A combination of Christmas and New Year excitement hangover and being the epitome of bleak mid-winter, ensures the whole month feels like one long early morning commute. It also hasn’t helped that I’ve had some rather distracting personal issues that have kept me from blogging. I won’t go into the details of my tales of woe, but let me tell you they are harrowing. If I’m honest though no matter how hard things got they weren’t the main cause of my lack of productivity.

Mostly harmless... unless I'm around!

                No, the main cause of procrastination and bad blogger guilt was the video game Ni No Kuni an amazing game for the PS3. I won’t go into a review for it here, partly because I have a review already in mind but mostly because I’m still trapped in its world at the moment! The one thing that I did manage to achieve is sorting out a place to live for next year, it was if I’m honest more important than defeating the White Witch. To celebrate our continuing home ownership, I and my house went out for a meal. Nowhere fancy, we are after all “poor students”, but a celebratory dinner none the less. Why however they are celebrating living with my madness for another year is beyond me (anyone who knows of the “Olive Incident” can attest to this!).

                We picked the Slug and Lettuce as our venue of choice and settled down to chow their food. I opted for a Jerk chicken salad, essentially two chicken kebabs with a bowlful of leaves I know but when you consider I had dessert in mind you’ll forgive me. Anyway the chicken was amazingly spicy and the salad allowed me to discover the delights of pomegranate seeds which are juicy and refreshing. None of this mattered really though as dessert was constantly on my mind. With such a good selection it was a tough choice let me tell you.

                I finally found my saviour in the form of the slightly sickly though amazing sounding Toffee apple crumble and picked ice cream for the side. I didn’t hold much hope for the toffee part and was expecting just your usual apple crumble (I say usual it doesn’t stop it being one of my favourite foods consumable in vast quantities.) However when it arrived and I breached its crispy crumble topping I found the filling to be a beautiful golden hue suggesting a toffee treat. It was great not at all sickly with a great combination of sweet sugary toffee and slightly tart apples that balanced each other out. The topping was really crispy and almost dented the spoon. I found the ice cream to be a good a compliment with a subtly sweet vanilla taste that helped achieve the balance.

                Overall it was a great night out, brilliant food, awesome company and generally a nice way to counter the January blues. 

A ban on Carrots for me!!!

Ouch, Yeash, Ooopsy! Which ever expletive you prefer the meaning is the same. I have been slacking a bit lately and those show if I'm honest that I don't really have an excuse. It's been almost three weeks since my last post. I'd like to say I've been super busy, but in honesty that would be a lie. If I took the honesty further I'd have to say I think my one post a day challenge burned me out.

Also the fact that I am no longer limiting my blog to just sweets has meant I in theory do have more topics open to me. So what does one talk about when they have the entirety of the cosmos to talk about. Well I think considering this blogs history the obvious answer is food. It's on my mind much of the time and as of recently rather on my body too. No don't worry I've not got into weird food fetishes over the festive period (that would just be plain odd). Nope, according to some however my latest obsession (snacking on carrots) has taken an amusing and worrying turn.

It was noticed the other day by a "friend" (a true friend may have let me enjoy my blissful ignorance perhaps) that my hands had taken up a bit of an Orange hue. Of course like a good chum they didn't pull me to one side let me know subtly and let me go dignity in tact. No, they chose the true friend fashion of telling everyone in the vicinity and embarrassing the hell out of me. To be honest that's a true sign of love right there. Better still was this was during another friends birthday celebration meaning my whole group could revel in my strangeness.

So there I stood for about ten minutes with my hands upheld for inspection by all. The outcome was several speculations and helpful hints. Followed by a ruling from my girlfriend telling all to watch my carrot intake and from now on. I felt a bit like a drug addict at rehab, except my habits not quite as cool. Although it does mean I too see things in the dark.

At the time of writing I feel my obsession with the orange "sin sticks" is passing and hopefully I will return to "normal" soon. But I am also weirdly concerned and intrigued as to what my next food craving could be. It also brings up a cool discussion point please comment below about your food ravings that seemed odd or had a colorful affect on your life. I look forward to seeing the craziness put forward. In the mean time I will be playing with the blog and the layout as I still haven't updated it since being truthful about myself at New Years.

Carrots gotta love em'

New Years Revolution

I hinted a few posts back that I had an announcement to make on New Years Day. Some of you I hope were eagerly anticipating what I have to announce, although in reality I bet not many of you remembered. Why would you? what with the Christmas carnage we have all been experiencing of late, seriously this year has been one of the most hectic I believe, for me personally.

So what could I possibly be wanting to say. Well it's a confession of sorts, and a look at the future of this blog. Let's start with my confession, I'm sorry to say that all this time I have been lying to you. My name is not in fact Roy Saxon! I know a right shocker. No my name is Joshua Francis, I am a creative writing and law student currently in my second year at university.

Why the fake name? Initially it was a protection instinct thing, I had no idea of what my blog would be and was reluctant to put my real name to it. Also I liked the anonymity it afforded me and felt exciting to use another personae. Another reason is that I once made a promise to a friend to use the name Roy if I ever started writing. Don't worry this wasn't a dramatic deathbed promise so nothing important has been broken. No the friend is alive and well and I believe living in Brighton.

Moving on now let's talk about the New Year. What an exciting one I'm sure it will be. As today is a time for looking ahead and making plans for the coming year I want to make a blog resolution. There is going to be a bit of a change in what I blog about from now on. As I have been posting I've found that I get more enjoyment out of writing the preamble and description of how I found products rather then the actual reviewing. This could possibly be down to the fact that there are only so many ways I can describe the taste of chocolate.

For this reason from now on my posts will probably become more about my thoughts and general musings. Don't worry I'm sure there will be some reviews at time. I hope that my regular readers will continue to support me and enjoy whatever it is I end up posting about. I'm not sure what my first new article will be about as of yet probably whatever is on my mind at the time. I'm not going to lie though it will probably be a rant of some sorts. Christmas and the resulting onslaught has been slightly stressful and a good rant will vent some pressure.

I fear this post has become a tad serious and egotistical, don't worry though this isn't a sign of things to come. I'm not a very serious person so most of the time the posts will probably about some kind of madness that's happened to me on the day. Believe me I get through a lot of madness, just the other day I had an argument about the face of an elephant. Perhaps someday I'll tell you about it!

Well I'll love you and leave you with that tid bit and with this picture of an elephant I have drawn!

Merry Christmas

Glad Yuletidings everyone, it's finally here. The day we have all (maybe not all but certainly a majority) been waiting for. The day when we forget all our issues and grievances with each other and get along. The cynic in me would like to question why humanity needs a special day in order to unite. However I usher him out the living room for at least today. Pretty sure that makes me both a miserable person and a hypocrite not sure which is worse.

Anyway yes it's Christmas and I truly wish everyone an amazing day. Even if it is only a day I hope you get what you want even if it's just a break. If you don't celebrate Christmas well then I wish you a Merry day in general and hope you have a great time.

So it's the last day of my advent challenge what could I possibly be reviewing? Well I still have a bag full of Christmas themed stuff so the possibilities are vast and I'll be doing festive products for a while I fear. But not today, no festive sweets will be reviewed. Today I will review Christmas Lunch after all what else would be appropriate?

Now this won't be a specific review of any one lunch I've had, firstly as every lunch is a massive effort on whomever is cooking and they always do an amazing job. Secondly the last lunch I had wasn't in too recent memory and as of writing I haven't had this years. So instead I will review the idea of Christmas Lunch in general!

I was going to go through traditional items you would find on your plate and talk about them, but that doesn't seem like such a cool plan now. So instead I'll wing it and type as I think. This is probably not a great idea but lets see what happens! Every meal consists of those traditional staples, love o hate the you've got to have them. That's especially true of the polarizing Parsnips and Sprouts. Why these two veg separate us as a species baffles me, it's as bad as the marmite vs vegimite vs neither argument. Yet even the most ardent of haters will on this special occasion humor the idea of eating them. Even if it is just to chew them then spit them out. Myself I love them both although a few years ago I hated them.

There always meat unless your a vegetarian, the old traditional meat was of course Goose, at one point because it was a cheap and plentiful bird so even poor families had a special meat. Ironically now it is a bird with the highest price an barely anyone has it. To me it has to be turkey although not many others agree. Usually the go to meat now is either chicken or pork.

The highlight for many is the infamous "pigs in blankets" a weird combination of bacon wrapped around sausage (so meat with more meat) that people go crazy for. Why do we only feel like we can eat these at Christmas yet mourn their passing so much. Surely if we did away with their time constrants we would all be happier as a species. A quick shout out now for the potatoes who should be roasted till they re burnt to a near crisp but not blackened.

But what makes Christmas lunch really special is sharing it with family and friends. Yes by the end of the night you'll be sick of them (and indeed divorce rates are highest around January as people realize they can't stand each other in large doses), but for a few hours we sit round a table and talk. We talk without the distractions we often have like TV or walls. We joke, we share stories, we pull a few crackers and wear the silly hats and generally enjoy each others company. However we must spare a thought for those who don't have the opportunity of friends and family, those alone or without Christmas. We should remember how lucky we are even if it's just for today and tomorrow.

Not wanting to end on a sombre thought I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Thank You for reading my post today and any other day you may have. It means a lot to me that you would take time out of your day for me. I have a big announcement coming in a week on New Years day about the future of this blog. Until then I'l keep posting when I can and hopefully get through all my festive items finally.

Overall have a great day and hope the build up was worth the pay off.

Score
Christmas dinner 9 out of 11

Found
On the plate in front of you on the 25th of December

Final Thoughts
Have a wondrous day

Frantic Festivities!

Well I hope that like me by now you have Christmas pretty much wrapped up! Sorry about that pun but I have just literally finished my wrapping and quite proud of the parcels beneath the tree. I know it seems like I've left it to the last minute but have no fear I spread my workload over the last week. Meaning no rushing and panicking at the last minute, in theory.

In reality I was having to frantically finish a few of them due to running out of paper and doing a mad dash down town before they shut. Seems I wasn't the only one too as I had a hard time finding any suitable paper. Luckily I found a few Disney themed rolls that were just about gender neutral enough to do for everyone. But at least now it's done and I can relax indoors and take shelter until the boxing day sales are well underway. Much safer especially when you factor in the town shaking weather we had last night.

Festive feces... I mean faces, festive faces

Now I am safely inside I can curl up eat some treats and tell you about them. I have a fair few too. We have biscuits, chocolates, bread and pies. I know a hectic post for you today, but it is the festive season and I thought I'd make the effort. So without further ado the first item is a McVitie's festive face. The reason for this is that on returning I was in desperate need for Tea and therefore a biscuit too. I wasn't expecting much from these if I'm honest, really I only bought them because they scared/amused me. They are pretty much BN's (if you remember those!) I think but with the shape of a jammy dodger. Basically a double copycat and fiend then. They taste like the old BN biscuits too, the biscuit base and lid is a vanilla tasting rich tea type affair and the jam and cream taste sweet and chewy. They aren't bad just a bit boring, to me at least. Let's face it the only reason people liked the BN biscuits was because of the advert and the chocolate version. These have neither and their expressions are terrifying!

This will forever haunt my dreams!

Next American chocolate with a Reeces snowman and Christmas tree and a Butter fingers coin. The tree and snowman are the same as the Pumpkin version I reviewed for Halloween. Delicious Reeces milk chocolate covering a beautiful peanut butter paste. A perfect mix of sweet and salty as always. The Snowman is a beast too, I had expected him to be like a hollow Easter egg but no it is all chocolate and paste no air at all. By the time I finish this I'll be so full I won't have room for turkey. Seriously though this thing weighs 141 grams and is nice to see dedication from a company. The Butterfinger coin achieves a similar balance but the milk chocolate isn't quite so sweet. The peanut in this is also small crispy flakes of peanut paste that creates the effect similar to a chocolate bar with cereal pieces like crunch. But with a great nutty taste to it.

All looking rather... cool

Now we visit Italy in the form of a traditional festive treat called Pannetone. Which is a fruity bread similar to Brioche or a hot cross bun. As I bit into it I found it a bit hard and dry but this soon changed as I began to detect the fruit that was mixed in. The taste as I say is very similar to other fruit breads with orange seeming to be the dominant flavour. The combination of fruit peel and raisins gives it a nice texture mix. It goes really nicely with some tea and coated in butter.

Lastly as you can see this has been a long post, it has been a bit of work for me and I now need something to fortify my nerves. Which calls for alcohol and in particular a festive liquor, Brandy. Thankfully MrKipling was kind enough to oblige in these deep fill Brandy mince pies. Now as I have mentioned I'm not a fan of mince pies, especially when they arn't homemade. But these are different enough to peak my interest. They arn't too bad but still suffer from the soft waxy pastry problem that mass produced pies have. Aside from that though they taste pretty good. The Brandy isn't too sharp and the filling isn't too sweet. The flvours mix to some extent not amazingly however.

Overall it's been a hectic day and a hectic challenge. With one final post before completion I'll be glad when I ca stop eating tinsel!

Score
Festive Faces - 4 out of 11
Reeces - 9 out of 11 plus 1 for effort
Butterfingerz - 8 out of 11
Brandy Mince pie - 6 out of 11

Found 
Festive faces in Poundland
Reeces and Butterfingerz in American import stor (although the snowman was Tesco)
Brandy mince pies in Sainsburys

Final Thoughts
I'm so full of merriment it hurts, damn yuletide!

Peep's tree mallows and Cadbury Praline Fingers

I hate humanity, there I said it!  I know that sounds rather depressing but if you knew what I have just been through you would understand. For prior to writing these very words I was knee deep in Christmas carnage. Worse still I did nothing to warrant the treatment I experienced.

Picture the scene, me innocently realizing that I needed milk and deciding I'd just pop to the shops for a pint. Then at said shop I became involved in the hell and madness that is pre-Christmas food shoppers. How could I have been so foolish to not realize the world and his wife would be out today getting their trimmings before Christmas Eve. I really don't know what was worse the fight I had to reach the milk aisle or the time i took to que for the till. By the time I was ready to pay I went straight for the self service to avoid the personal touch of humanity.

As much as I love times like these when we all come together as society to celebrate, I do wish we hadn't come together in my local Sainsbury's. The holidays have a nasty habit of bringing out a nasty side to us in the last few weeks when we panic and descend upon food stores like locusts. Sadly this makes us tired and fed up with each other around an event with the purpose of doing the exact opposite. I believe they call it irony.

So these look plain but taste nice...

Anyway whilst there I took the opportunity to grab some last minute deals in the confectionery aisle and thought I may as well blog them whilst I attempt to relax. Now I know these are Christmassy themselves but the idea that you buy a box to share is, so in my eyes they count. They are Cadbury Fabulous Praline Fingers, part of their fabulous range which are meant to be up-market chocolate digits. I've had the honey comb versionand enjoyed them. They were really crunchy and had a great burnt honey taste to them. These are somewhat disappointing. The praline taste is just too subtle and barely comes through over the chocolate. They taste just like a slightly nutty plain finger and to be fair I love them so it's not really that disappointing. Except these tend to cost double the regulars so I do feel a little short changed.

Next I bring two appropriately themed and linked marshmallow items. One I picked up whilst visiting Macarons and more and another from an American import shop. I'll give you three guesses as to which one I prefer. The first one is a beautifully light and fluffy marshmallow with some mince pie filling mixed in. It tastes literally like eating a mince pie cloud. It melts practically before it enters your mouth a bit like candy floss.

and these look nice but taste plain. What is life?

The second mallow is a Christmas tree shaped Peep's marshmallow. Now I had heard of peeps before and have been eager to track down a box. So upon finding a few and some that fit my current challenge at that was a godsend. However this doesn't extent to the product itself as they are horrible. With an unpleasant chewy, cheap texture and literally no taste. I was really disappointed as you can imagine never has there been such build up for such dis bare since a tried a Twinky bar. I've had pound town mallows that are leagues ahead of these.

Overall it was a rather somber post today lets hope it gets better. For tomorrow is Christmas Eve itself, if I don't perk up I run the risk of being visited by three ghosts as is tradition.

Score
Fingers - 6 out of 11
Mince pie mallow  8 out of 11
Peep's mallow - 2 out of 11

Found
Sainsbury's
Tim's macarons and more
American import shop

Final Thoughts
How have Americans allowed Peep's and Twinkies to continue existing? 

Late night snacking!

You may have noticed yesterdays post was rather short and a bit late. Once again don't get ahead of yourself and think I have some kind of hectic social life, I wish I did. No the post was slightly postponed due to having to travel halfway down the country. Despite asserting they provide a good (one that comes at a good price) it wasn't until I got home until I could post.

Was it worth it? In one way yes in another no, I am glad to be in my hometown for the holidays but considering I left my special someone behind I'm not. Still mustn't dwell on down thoughts, I had a great time visiting her and her family. A quick Christmas week before Christmas week, who doesn't want to celebrate the day twice? I got to get some last minute late night shopping done in Norwich too. Including getting to go to castle Mall a shopping center built beneath a friggin castle! Of course I took the chance to purchase many sweet things for myself and the blog. The highlight of such was a look in at Macaroons and more where I found their mince pie flavour.

But before we get to that lets look at some bread. No don't worry I haven't gone mad again and purchased something that may be savory and worse still possibly healthy. No, don't be foolish dear reader of course this isn't going to be good for me. Well I could argue that whilst it may not be good health wise it is beneficial for my well being. This bread is Morrison's Rudolph bread, a orange brioche type bread with chocolate chips baked in for love. The result a lovely breakfast feeling bread with a festive chocolate orange taste. The bread isn't soft which is my only issue. Texture wise its more like a giant hot cross bun, but reindeer shape. Still it is nice and goes lovely slightly toasted and smothered in butter.

Kind of looks like he is struggling to wink... worrying.

Then we get to the climax of today's tale the aforementioned Macaron (the French kind not the coconut monstrosity). Specifically one made by Tim, the guy who won Master chef and started a chain of biscuit shops, so much respect. I had been in last time I was in Norwich at which time I was a Macaron virgin, that soon changed with a salted caramel offering and since I have been a bit obsessed! Unfortunately I did start with the best and since nothing has quite lived up to it. So when I saw they had a festive edition in wild horses or rather donkeys (beach donkeys are provided on tap in Gt Yarmouth!) couldn't keep me away.

Sadly it was not a happy tasting as once again it paled in comparison to my first time. The quality was still there, the top and bottom shell is crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. The paste in the middle melts wonderfully releasing the flavour and generally it was amazing as biscuits go. It didn't quite taste of mince pie to me, the almond flavour over powered all other flavour somewhat. But seen as how I love the taste of almonds I can't exactly complain. Have no fear though I also purchased my one and only, my muse, my obsession, my salted caramel. Which lived up once again to all my needs and more. With a beautifully sweet caramel and subtly salty combination that takes you to sickly sweet before bringing you back down. A real treat  and I was smitten once more.

So sorry for misjudgment!

Before I end there I want to mention something I found the other day that isn't quite so special.  A super Mario Noel selection box, yeah you already know this isn't going to be good. But after seeing it I could hardly not purchase it just to revel in it's terribleness. And after all it does contain a whole NINE items (that's like one more than eight). You could just tell by the box this screamed cheap calendar chocolate. But I was wrong and whilst it doesn't taste of what you'd call quality it does taste pretty good. nice and milky and not overly sweetened. At the price it was being sold at nine items suddenly looks good. I feel rather bad for mocking it.

I felt as guilty as Donkey Kong here does!

Overall it was a great mini holiday and all the goodies I gathered were pretty decent, I'm sorry Mario I misjudged you.. again!

Score
Rudolph bread - 7 out of 11
Mince pie Macaron - 6 out of 11
Salted Caramel macaron - 10 out of 11
Mario - 5 out of 11

Found
Rudolphe - Morrison's
Macaron's - Tim's Macarons and More
Mario Box - Toys'R'Us

Final Thoughts
Only three more excitement disturbed sleeps till XMAS.

Disney Dismay

I know I probably come off as a bit of a cynical person and that's probably because in general I am. Some point around the time I turned six I bypassed all other ages and became a forty year old. So in spite of this it may surprise you to hear that yesterday I went and watched a Disney film. Completely voluntarily I might add.

I enjoyed it too and thoroughly recommend all of you try and see Frozen at some point. I was surprised at just how much I liked it. I loved the songs, the characters, the story just not the snowman. Though I hear that's what everyone is agreeing upon, he doesn't even serve a purpose. I truly hope that even children hate him and that his plushy sells worse than a guinea pig walking leash (believe me they exist). I could go so far as hoping that the lack of sales of such bankrupt Disney, but then I would never get Kingdom hearts 3. Plus as I say the film was good.

Why am I talking about a film though, well for one I enjoyed it. Two it's festive themed... is, Three I consumed candy as is tradition in a film. Lastly this is my blog so I'll talk about it if I want! Thank you very much. I’ll just say that it is worth seeing and whilst there are quite a few problems with it on many levels it doesn't matter when you hear some of the songs.

Anyway let's look at some candy. First I had some Co-op chocolate orange segments, oh-oh cheap knockoff rant is what you’re expecting, right? Wrong these were really nice and actually indistinguishable from Terry's name brand alternative. They melt beautifully with a creamy sweet orange taste as you would expect. Plus for a single shilling (well pound) you get quite a few segments. Only thing is they are pre-separated and you don't get the satisfaction of whacking an egg on a table.

Next I had a bag of salted caramel pretzels; this represented the savory and therefore healthy aspect of my meal. Sweet pretzels are an odd concept to me so when I saw these in Morrison’s I just had to pick one up. They kind of work much like how the festive pringles work. If you can get over the fact that the plain salted snacking pretzels are the norm you'll enjoy these. Nice and crunchy with a great sweet and salty caramel taste that fades leaving behind a dougie aftertaste.

Overall it was a nice day out complete with some nice sweets. Not much else to say just a bit of a chilled review really!

Mince Pie Madness

The big days but five more days away, and despite yesterdays post suggesting slight disdain at blogging here I am again. Today however in order to preserve my sanity (if that’s at all possible) I thought I would do something different. Instead of reviewing some product or another instead I will do a top of the pops style list feature. But what on you ask, especially if you haven't bothered to read the title. Well Mince pies of course.

This year I have seen a multi-tude of these pastry pals some with some cool topping ideas. Before this year in fact mince pies barely registered with me, unless they are homemade I never got too excited before. Shop bought ones always crumble away and have an odd greasy texture to the pastry. Even without the bad texture I find the pastry shells a bit boring anyway and unfortunately make up the majority of the pie. That's why I like these varieties that I have tried this year as they all have a rather pleasing substitute.

 

I was tasked with eating all these...

In last place we have no topping, an open tart concept. The only reason I like this one really is because the lack of topping means less pastry and if you’re lucky more filling. Even better is if the pastry base is thin and slightly burnt giving it a crisp rather than crumbly texture.

What about those those use a different kind of pastry? That question was well timed as now I turn to puff pastry mince pies. I don't mind these if I'm honest they are crispy and often sprinkled in sugar that if cooked right has begun to caramelize on top. The only problem is often these can be rather flakey and you end up with most of it down your jumper.

 

And these

Next is a hazelnut topped pie I tried. Very similar to the tart version this has shredded hazelnut on top which creates a crunchy nut topping. Not as exciting as I had hoped when I saw it but still definitely preferable from the usual pastry. Joint at this position is a Viennese topped pie. With a soft and crumbly biscuit top that was a bit too similar to the normal version but had a nice buttery taste that boosted its ranking.

Now we are somewhat into the elite territory folks. These were my top three that I have seen so far this year. A meringue topped pie was a cool idea and one that worked quite nicely, at first at least. The first few bites were great with the meringue offering a slightly sweet taste and an interesting texture combination. The trouble was it soon fell apart quite literally as the top fell on the floor and I was left with the basic tart.

 

Challenge accepted and completed!

In second place is a Cherry Bake well type display. Instead of pastry it had a nice iced top with a delightful cherry at its center. This was great as I'm not fond of Bake well’s in general but do enjoy the iced topping and combined with the mincemeat filling I got the best of both worlds. The version I tried was baked to perfect too with the icing cooked into a nicely solid state of being.

My favorite however with no comparison has to be a frangipani mince pie. These are quite frankly amazing. With a sweet almond cake mixture top that has a light and fluffy texture and a sweet flavor. This combines beautifully with the crumbly solid base and gives the whole pie a new feel.

Overall I have found a new lease on mince pies this year by reveling in non-traditional variations.

Score

Mince pies - 7 out of 11

Found

Various places

Final Thoughts

So full no room for thoughts!

Bored Blogging?

I’m starting to regret this challenge a bit if I’m honest. Posting everyday isn’t as easy as you would think believe me. Not only do I have to find time to write each post but there’s also the editing and uploading. Now I’m not really complaining, after all I get to try chocolate as I do them. The problem is that there is a growing sense of resentment.

By imposing a deadline upon myself I’ve begun to feel like the blogs become a job rather than a hobby. I think once the twenty fifth has passed I’ll need a bit of a break. For this reason and because of how similar each of today’s products are this post is going to be a bit short.

He hath no eyes!

First up we have Cadbury’s snowy delight bar, a vanilla crème filled milk chocolate slab especially for Christmas. It tastes as you would expect of the usual milk chocolate but the crème adds another level of sweetness. The crème filling is very similar to the strawberries and crème bar in texture a bit waxy but not too off putting. It gets close to becoming sickly but isn’t unpleasant. Both melt well and combine nicely so it is a good mixture. It’s very similar to product number two.

A Cadburys snowman is at number two, and pretty much the same product but in a different shape… Is what I thought. Yes whilst this is the same milk chocolate outside shell the inside crème isn’t the same. For a start it’s a vanilla mousse and not a crème. This may not seem much change there is as the filling is not only very waxy but also very tasteless. This product just doesn’t work, and is rather disappointing. Even the moulding is lazy and the snowman has no facial features or detail at all. It seems they went for a cheerful and cheap approach with this one, the sort of product you leave by the till for impulse buyers like me to find.

Little disappointed the white chocolate was only a topping

MARS also had this in their sights I’m sure with these Malteasers reindeers, but in this example I wouldn’t regret my buy. I really like these, the chocolate on the outside has a smooth milky taste. The inside is a beautifully crunchy malt middle that counters the sweetness of the outside well. The mixture has little burnt bits in it too that add even more texture. I find these teaser bars and the single Malteasers you get in Celebrations are much nicer than the actual Malteasers. I can’t see why this is so.

Lastly we have a Cadburys winter wonderland bar, these look rather cool. Made of tiny chocolate trees, of both milk and white chocolate. I was a bit disappointed by the fact that the white chocolate is only the top layer but still the taste is there. The chocolate tastes nice not too sweet, though this could be because it’s overpowered slightly by the plain milk chocolate.

Overall there’s not much to say really except that possibly there is too many products released just for one holiday. Or rather too many of the same ideas especially from Cadbury corner.

Score

Snowy Delight - 5 out of 11

Snowman - 2 out of 11

Winter Wonderland - 7 out of 11

Malteaser - 8 out of 11

Found 

Any supermarket

Final Thoughts

Hopefully part of my New Years announcement will cure this dwell in my blog enthusiasm. 

Lebkuchen

Right before you call me dull, boring or worse still a liar, let me have a chance to defend myself. Yes these are basically ginger biscuits and I did indeed suggest I'd at least take a break from such things; however I have reasons (or excuses). Firstly these are technically Lebkuchen and very traditional. Secondly they are more cakey and iced in chocolate. Lastly they are German and as I mentioned before makes them even more festive.

But before we get to them let us go nuts for well... Nuts! Caramelized almonds to be exact. In the last few months I've discovered a lifelong hatred of nuts was rather unfounded and have since been obsessed with making up for lost time. These things are one of those times that make me weep for such missed opportunities, what’s better than a roasted almond? One coated in sugar and then cooked that’s what.

 

More cake than biscuit

These really are great the outside is crispy and tastes of caramelized sugar, hardly a surprise really considering their name. The nut inside has been cooked and roasted well too. The combination created between sweet and savory is great with an epic crunch too for good measure. Now I have had these freshly roasted at a market and that was an experience I can tell you. These are the supermarket equivalent and despite being slightly smaller and not warm are still a delicious and probably dangerous for your health treat.

Next we have the main event, Lebkuchen. Whilst I started by saying these are more gingerbread cookies I think they are much more like a cake, true even more when you consider they usually come coated in icing. These that I have don't, instead these are covered in dark chocolate and have a rice paper base. All the layers have something in common, the fact that they all melt in the mouth nicely. The dark chocolate isn't the usual plain and bitter taste; instead it tastes nicely sweet and works well. This probably means it isn't a good quality example but that doesn't matter all the time.

Like little pebbles of joy

The cake itself isn't very gingery at all, and at this point I would start complaining. I would that is if it mattered which it doesn't. These are meant to taste fruitier than fiery I think which with the fruit peel mixed in definitely delivers. The peel itself mixes well with the chocolate topping and at times creates a Chocolate orange type of taste. These are great all round and such a shame they will soon be much missed from the shelves. They go well with a cup of tea too, multi-talented guys these.

Lastly is an odd concept, hot chocolate kit for two. Yes, on the face of it that seems a good idea right? It is a season for couples to conspire beneath the fire ECT. I would agree too, except this range comes from Toys'R'Us. Yeah things just got weird.

Overall Lebkuchen is amazing and the nuts too and make me realize I'm going to miss some of these fleeting festive treats. But then if we had them all year round they wouldn't be special.

Score

Lebkuchen - 8 out of 11

Caramelized Almonds - 7.5 out 11

Found

Both were found in Lidl

Final Thoughts

Germany really have this Christmas thing down to a T.

Curious Christmas combination

I know what you’re wondering, what could possibly have STOLLEN my attention today? Well I have a plethora of pleasantries for pursuing. I know that alliteration there was so good right, it really took the CAKE. Okay I’m going to stop with the terrible hint puns before you think me a right PUDDING. I must be driving you NUTS.

                

Definitely stopping after that one as in all honesty the one the nuts pun refers to isn’t too nut centric. Moving swiftly on for we have a few to get through today I’ll begin with the Stollen. Probably the most traditional of the four as not only is it festive but it is also German. As I have talked about before Germany is where most of our holiday hang ups originate from. Surely that makes this cake about as festive as you can get.

Thankfully it was only a small slice

 It’s an odd one too the cakes themselves are an amalgamation of soft pastry, fruit and marzipan. An odd combination that actually tastes rather nice, and like this one if made well creates an interesting cooling sensation in the mouth befitting of the season. The pastry is soft and moist and melts nicely on the tongue. The marzipan tastes of sweetened almonds and gives the pastry a nice sugary kick. Then the fruit and spice mixture brings the usual festive tastes that are ever present on our tongues right now. Altogether it creates a great Christmas treat that in my opinion I nicer than what we have adopted.

               

 Over here in England we have Christmas cake, not as fun to say and nowhere near as nice to eat. A combination of fruit, suit and breadcrumbs creating an often dry fruit cake base topped with marzipan and the royal icing. I’m really not a fan, usually when presented with these cakes I tend to eat the icing and marzipan and little else. I find it too dry and dull for my likings. To me, cake has to be sweet, moist and mostly chocolate. The version I tried is from Costa and whilst quite nice and more importantly very small still had the dryness and lack of interesting flavours for me.

                

Puddings in disguise

Next we have a deceiver in our midst for this may look like the traditional festive pud topped with sauce and holly, but take a closer look and that holly looks a bit too perfect. Another give away is that it is clearly made from Rice Krispys and chocolate. It’s a cool little thing I saw in local bakery and had to try, after all it is festively themed. However when I got home I was a little worried. The Krispys were falling off a rapid rate and they seemed a bit dull in colour. I realized that the chocolate in the mixture may have been lacking in aid of a batch bake. Undeterred however I tried a chunk and was pleasantly surprised. The cereal at first tasted a bit stale, but that was to be expected. The surprise was how the chocolate mixture tasted rather chocolaty and quite buttery. The combination worked well and tasted of sweet chocolate butter. I can tell you it didn’t last much longer and crumbled away to nothing.

                

With these Raffaellos I am really being spoiled

Lastly we have some snowball like Ferrero Roche’s, or rather their white chocolate coconut brother Raffaello. I never really eat Ferrero Roche’s that much; they aren’t the sort of thing you buy when you want a quick chocolate fix. I also don’t get invited to many Ambassador Balls and so don’t see many of the pyramid offerings of them either. Yet the fact that these versions only appear this time of year made me eager to buy a box just to try. Am I glad I did? Yes, Yes I am. These taste great with a crispy coconut outside a creamy nutty inside and a whole Almond all offered in one hit. They taste very luxurious without being too rich and filling as the regular ones have in the past. These have a great coconut and milky chocolate taste that ends with a great nutty crunch.

                

Overall I love most of today’s products except ironically the one we hold dearest to our hearts in this country. I say we adopt more German traditions and take on the Stollen.

Score

Christmas Stollen -  8 out of 11

Christmas cake - 4 out of 11

Rice Krispy pudding - 6 out of 11

Raffaelo - 9 out of 11

Final Thoughts

Only eight more days left, I can't believe it!

McVitie's gineger bread biscuits

Ok I know you guys are probably fed up of me reviewing ginger biscuits but lets face it gingers pretty abundant this season. I wonder why certain spices have become known as festive. I'm guessing because they each create a warming feeling. They all do really, Nutmeg, Cinnamon and ginger, to be honest I'm clutching at straws on that one. I was going to mention allspice in that list but as the name suggests it's not really a spice more an amalgamation.

I'M going to move on as I fear I'm rather out of my depth here. Clearly my spice knowledge is rather lacking. I'm fine on the practical side (as in tasting) but the theory sides above me. Anyway I have three ginger based biscuits for your reading pleasure. One is a Costa coffee ginger bread man, one a Mcvities gingerman and one is a locally made red robin cookie.

 

Ohhhh Shiny

First let’s look at the Costa Coffee offering. I know what you’re thinking, why aren’t I reviewing the gingerbread latte that comes served with this drink? Well you see I didn't need to purchase the drink in order to get this guy. All I did was walk in the store say I was the one and only Roy Saxon and was offered anything I wished. Ok so that’s not true, although I was rather crafty in my procurement of it. I did the age old technique of flirting with the server. I wasn't even the initiator of said measures, so I got both a biscuit and an ego boost all in one visit. I know what you’re thinking again, Roy shame on you for flirting back. You have a stunning and beautiful girlfriend don't you? Well yes I do, she was with me and got half the gingerbread man.

Not that it was very gingery and yes I know I always say this. Also I realize I am rather harsh on any biscuit that doesn't meet my standards. But this time not only was it lacking in ginger fiery-ness, it was also rather stale. They do rather worryingly keep these in an airtight container but often they keep the lid off for easy access. Seems a bit futile in the long run. Then again I doubt many of their customers complain about the free addition with their drinks. Well I do, except mine was just free.

Next we have a very similar looking McVitie version the only difference being a layer of chocolate on the bottom. So similar in look is it similar in taste (or lack thereof). No, not at all, in fact these little guys pack a bit of a kick to them. Finally a ginger biscuit that's got a decent amount of fire to them. The chocolate is quite nice too but the spice is where the actions at. They have a nice solid crunch to them too. They even dunk well in coffee and their sweetness really comes through especially with the chocolate underbelly. I was really surprised how nice these were considering the usual mass produced cookies that are themed for holidays.

Lastly we have the red robin, the design on this thing is really nice and the sparkling red belly is the icing on the... well ginger biscuit. This has a weird very soft texture to it, not crumbly and not solid a bit like cold but not quite solid icing. In contrast the icing on top is hard and creates the crunch to this biscuit. It has a nice ginger taste to it but really the taste of icing is the prevalent flavor. It actually works quite nicely. I'm willing to overlook the lack of ginger because of how nice these look.

Overall only the Costa one was a disappointment and that's mainly down to how they are stored. I hope if any Costa people are reading, hell if anyone even reads, they start leaving the lid on. Remember please the customer and all that.

Score

Costa Gingerbread man - 2 out of 11

McVitie's ginger man - 7 out of 11

Red Robin Biscuit - 6 out of 11

Found

Costa (surprisingly)

Tesco

Local cafe

Final Thoughts

 I will try and steer clear of ginger biscuits for a while, for your sanity and mine!

Holland & Barret mincemeat Flapjack

Wow, day fifteen already. I can’t quite believe it if I’m honest, only ten days left now until the big nights finally upon us. All this build up and excitement leading to a single day. Problem is once you pass that day all you have left are the remnants. Quite literally on Boxing Day, the day we now observe basically for the purposes of eating leftovers and not feeling lazy. At one time Boxing day was a time to leave a festive tip for your post or milk man. Now who even has a milkman? And the postman’s always late anyway.

Still another day brings another festive item in line with my advent challenge. I’m doing well so far and despite a rather hectic schedule (that doesn’t mean I have a social life, believe me) I have posted each and every day. Today of course is no different and I have two traditional treats for you today, well not amazingly traditional. Not at all really apart from the fact that contain festive iconology (fancy word right?), really I just like the phrase traditional treats.

Why would he need a wand, he has teeth

First up we have something that doesn’t exactly pop into one’s mind when I think yuletide and that’s a jelly lolly pop. These things are great for seasonal holidays however as you can pretty much put any form of icing on top and deem it appropriate. This time in light of the holiday they have chosen a stocking and Polar bear motif. Polar bear seems to be an odd choice, odder still is he seems to have a fairy wand. Truly this embodies the spirit of the season perfectly, No I’m not buying it either.

It has a nice solid jelly texture to it with a nice dusting of sugar; the icing is rock solid royal icing and definitely has teeth shattering potential. The jelly tastes really nice actually, which is a nice change from the usual quality of the bargain jelly pops you get near the counters. Even more surprising is when you consider there is no sign of a company name on the product. It has a nice sweet strawberry taste to it that tastes rather fruity. The icing of course just tastes of sugar but really its only purpose is to differentiate the product from the Easter version that comes out next week. Possibly a Triceratops with some kind of diving rod, if this one’s decoration is anything to go by.

Doesn't look it but it is nice

 Next up we have a festive flapjack from Holland and Barret. Again flapjack isn’t really what I picture this time of year. But like the jelly pop you can pretty much add anything to a flapjack to make it current.  Quite a good unintentional pun was made there when you consider this bar has currents in it. Basically it is a normal oaty flapjack with some mincemeat added for Xmas measures.
That isn’t to say it’s not nice, it is and indeed since finding these I’ve taken advantage of the stores two for one mix and match policy while these are around. The flapjack has a soft and crumbly texture to it. Maybe a bit too sticky but that’s thanks to the syrup. Which is needed as it makes it taste beautiful, honestly these melt in your mouth first with the taste of a mince pie and then with a syrupy aftertaste. There is a nice dusting of icing sugar on top too, invoking a sense of snow… or dandruff.  

Overall both of these products whilst not exactly quintessential for Christmas are a nice little passing attraction.

Score
Polar bear jelly pop - 7 out of 11
Mincemeat Flapjack - 9 out of 11

Found
Polar bear pop came from Superdrug and the Mincemeat Flapjack can be found in Holland and Barrets

Final Thoughts
Why were the company too ashamed to put the name on it?