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.

Nestle Snowcaps and Cadbury Snow Bites

‘Snow is falling, all around… simply having a wonderful Christmas time’. Except it isn’t snowing and let’s face it, it definitely won’t be on the twenty fifth. I think the nearest I’ve ever got to a white Christmas was the year I knocked over a bottle of talcum powder. Anyway why would we want snow on Christmas day?

I’m not a kid anymore and snow doesn’t hold endless possibilities for me. No I know what will happen, I’ve seen it before. I could attempt to build a snowman, but I’ll probably give up have way through and that’s not fair on either of us. I could have a snowball fight, and then I end up cold, damp and probably having a stone lodged in my eye.  Then there’s sledding which is always rather short-sighted really. Yes, it is fun to slide down the hill, but remember you then must walk back up it, in the snow, when it’s cold… and possibly icy.

 

What exactly is a Nonparcil?

Nope, if it snows this year I’m going to hunker down, make some soup and wait for it to blow over. Worse still is it doesn’t even just send the kids crazier than a blue Smarties. Adults suddenly have the urge to go out and purchase half of Sainsbury’s or Tesco. Then I’m stuck not being able to buy my essentials for hunkering. Essentials of the food variety, specifically sweetened ones. Luckily I have a solution to this as my cupboard is a Dragons horde of confectionary.

Why all this talk of snow before even a fleck passes my nose? Well it’s a good way to start my post containing two snow type items. We have Cadbury Milk chocolate snowballs to try and some Nestle Snow caps. Starting with the Dairy Milks I must say the white dusting on these whilst a nice touch does rather get everywhere. When I opened the bag a ploom of the stuff erupted out and coated my room.  Still as I say it’s quite nice and I have fond memories of these from last year.

They are essentially Christmas themed mini eggs, with Dairy Milk chocolate being encased in a sugar shell. Except as I pointed out they are dusted too, which in product logic makes them completely unique. You can fool my but you can’t fool my tongue. I pop one in my mouth and allow the outside coating to melt to the point of brittleness that makes it fall apart. Leaving the chocolate exposed and slightly warmed. It tastes, well rather disappointing, as I say I had these last year and got through many a bag I can tell you. This year they taste a bit stale if I’m honest, I don’t know if they’ve changed or if I have a bad bag, but something’s different.

 

Look how proud he looks of his skills!

Well with that disappointment I moved onto the Snowcaps, something I truly haven’t seen before (brand wise). They are small chocolate chip drops sprinkled with tiny white candy balls. A bit like very small jazzles. This should worry me, after even a single jazzle my stomach usually feels like I’m punishing it. These though are different, for a start they are dark chocolate, so the bitterness alone should in theory off set the sweet sugar pieces. Which it does each drop is actually quite bitter but in a rich way that’s not unpleasant. They don’t melt very well, which is a shame, but they are still rather moreish.

Overall I much prefer both of these to the real cold thing itself, much more useful. Wait. I know this year I’ll make a snow angel! Probably won’t snow at all now.

Score

Snow Bites - 5 out of 11

Snowcaps - 7 out of 11

Found

Snowbites are in most stores like Tesco, the Snowcaps I found in an American candy store in Southampton. 

Final Thoughts

I may put a bet on it being a white Christmas after all!

I rant about something small

So I’ve pretty much been able to avoid this problem until now, but it's day seven so I’m going to tackle a subject that I’ve ranted about before. No, not cheap tasting chocolate or how I believe all chocolate from my childhood is somehow smaller. Not even wondering why it’s always the toffee left in the Roses tin never the creams (though that one does annoy me and keep me up at night). No, these are common complaints and by now surely you readers know there is nothing common about me.

On reflection that last line seems a bit pretentious, makes it sound like I believe I have blue blood running through my veins (the royal kind, not the cold kind. Though pretty much the same I guess #burn). No what I meant was that the things that annoy me usually don’t appear on a sane person's radar, probably goes to show how small my problems actually are. What annoys me is the repackaging of old products as new or different for holiday periods. We saw it for Halloween and once again we get it for Christmas.

At least the woollen design will keep them warm in these chilly times.

I’ve noticed the worst for this is probably Cadbury who have released a few cardboard tube share boxes. Now I know you’ve adopted that lovely woollen look for your packaging but it doesn’t make it new. The worst so far has been the tubes of Buttons and Fredo Faces I show you today. Neither is very good as share boxes go either. They contain individual bags of the sweets which isn’t exactly very share friendly. You’re more likely to have a bag to yourself than if they were loose in the tube. The Buttons are even just their usual mini bags; it just comes off as rather lazy.

Surely a better idea would be a big bag of them inside the tube that you could tip out into a bowl or something. Instead I would have to open each individual bag and pathetically fill the bowl in small quantities. Then you have the added disappointment that they are all the same flavour. One product does understand however, that’s the Terry chocolate Orange segsational boxes. These are great as there are all six different flavours of the orange without having to buy their bigger brother versions. Great, if like me you want to try all the different varieties but don’t want the guilt of six whole oranges to yourself.

Sample sizes are always welcome, all the taste non of the guilt!

Lastly we have Kinder bar minis, got to be a bit of a hypocrite on this one and say I actually like these. Firstly they are loose in the tube so you can just tip them out in an impressive sharing display. Plus they are rather new as you can’t get the Kinder bars in this size. Each piece is like a mini snack and you don’t get the problem with the larger bar that often feels sickly sweet and provide the unnecessary guilt trip. No, two blocks of gorgeous kinder white and milk chocolate is the right amount as far as I’m concerned.

Not quite sure where this post has gone really. The main idea is that often around this time of year we get the usual share boxes panic buy. A concept that should have been left to variety chocolates like Roses or Heroes, yet companies decided we needed the creation of tubes filled with the same product. This is just rather dull after you’ve had a few of the same tasting Dairy Milk button. Perhaps I’m the problem; I do get bored very quickly after all. I guess it does get rid of the problem I alluded to earlier when you go hunting for the Purple One only to find some bugger has nicked them all!

I'm guessing a Reindeer, but honestly could be a goat

Overall, whilst the idea of share boxes is great and all can we please ensure we respect the tradition of variety in these boxes. Cadburys shame on you!

Score (of effort put in)

Cadburys - 4 out of 11

Segsationals - 8 out of 11

Kinder - 6 out of 11

Found

Variety boxes are everywhere at the moment as are share boxes.

Final Thought

Wasn't really a review at all, more like a full on rant... sorry!

Yo! Sushi coated Edame beans

Okay so I admit yesterdays review may have been a bit lazy. For starters I didn't pay for it, then factor in the fact that it concerned yet another ginger biscuit. If I'm not careful you guys and girls might stop reading. Hell if I keep boring myself I might stop writing. What a travesty for the world that would be right?

Anyway I thought I'd push the boat out a bit and get out there. The boat n question landed somewhere on the oriental shoreline it would seem judging by today's products. Added to this and to really spice things up one of today's items is a savoury snacking item. Wasabi peas to be precise (now go back re-read the spice it up comment and chuckle at my genius.) The other item is a bag of coated Edema beans another snacking bag but these are chocolate and yogurt coated and provide the usual sweetness to my post.

They don't look like much but really pack a punch!

So lets start with the savoury and talk about your P's and Q's. For those out of the know wasabi is a Japanese mustard like sauce, very hot and very spicy. Peas are small round vegetation that some people say is better for you than sugar! I love hot products so was rather excited hen I saw these for sale in my local cafe. Opening the bag I was struck by a very pungent mustard aroma, a sure fire sign for a heatwave ahead.

I popped one on my tongue and allowed the dusting to do its work. Wow are these spicy! With a definite taste of English mustard not too much to be overpowering and cause the familiar problem of mustard blowout leading to pain in the nasal cavities. The pea underneath is nicely roasted its got a great crunch to it and enough flavour on its own to curb boredom. I risked eating three at once and immediately regretted it. Too hot even for me and the result was a rather painful sneezing fit.

To recover and recuperate we shall move on to the sweet. These are roasted Edama beans coated in yogurt, milk chocolate and dark chocolate. This on the base of it seems like a very odd concept. Whenever I've seen Edama beans before they are at most in a salad coated in a soy sauce. They are very nice but not really for the realms of dessertery.

All bases covered here

First up the yoghurt coating, I let it melt on my tongue as per usual. It tastes subtly sweet with a nice plain milky flavour. Not to bad, may have worked better had it been coated in white chocolate. The bean underneath does add to the combination well, it's surprising how nice the combination is. There is a nice crunch and roasted flavour to these very similar to the peas.

Next I try the milk chocolate coated beans, I think these are going to be my favourite of the three. Allowing it to melt I get a pleasant sweet milk chocolate taste that is cheap but quite nice regardless. Not quite advent calender chocolate so no sickly sweetener aftertaste. The bean underneath again gives a nice savoury kick to the occasion that blends well. Lastly the dark chocolate, perhaps we should have the "dark" in quotes as it tastes more sweet than bitter. Clearly not a high cocoa content dark chocolate, rather just a slightly bitter plain chocolate.

Overall these are all nice in their own rights. Definitely the change from biscuits that I was aiming for too.   

Score

Wasabi Peas - 8 out of 11

Edama Beans - 7 out of 11

Found

The Wasabi peas in my local cafe and chocolate Edame from Yo! Sushi

Final Thought

Today has been very different, two whole types of vegetation in one review!

Nero & Bianco - Dark Chocolate

There has been a lot of recent research that’s finding chocolate is actually more beneficial than previously thought. Helping beat cravings during diets, lowering BMIs of teenagers and strengthening your teeth more than fluoride! Before, however, you go out and consume the nearest candy you can catch there are some provisions. The benefits are truly only prevalent when you delve into the Darker chocolates.

Like a fancy looking Zebra!

Reading these recent development stories made me realise something, I haven’t yet tried any Dark chocolate for this blog! I know scandalous right? Upon this revelation I immediately reached for the conveniently placed Dark chocolate bar next to the cafes till. The rather luxuriously-looking examples usually get dreadfully overlooked by me in favour of the bright and cheery alternatives. I must add that the packs themselves are very proud of their Fairtrade and organic status. My impulsive purchase at least will not only make me feel better but the world too!

The product in question is from Nero & Bianco who apparently use only the ‘finest organic ingredients’. This bar is described further by them as being a ‘rich intense dark chocolate’ and containing 70% cocoa. Their range isn’t limited to this bar although all the others on offer are 35 grams. Not much chance of overdoing it here then. Being Dark Chocolate this bar also is slightly limited in calorie content too, at 217 calories for this whole bar. The saturated fat too is lower at 10.15grams. Overall, definitely better for you that a Rice Krispie Cookie Crunch bar.

Definitely not as healthy and about the complete antagonist in taste

It has a very designer feel about it, being black in style with a floral display. On the inside the bar is divided into a lot of very small blocks, clearly they know that little and often is the secret to happiness and health. It has a very subtle smell similar to burnt coffee beans. A temptingly warm, but bitter aroma. Taste wise I find it to be very disappointing. It has a waxy texture that refuses to melt on my tongue in any pleasing manner. It came across as very bland and a definitely bitter, this wouldn’t have been a bad thing had the sensation been a bit stronger. As it is the taste barely detectable and just a bit boring.  A lot of this could be down to my overly indulged taste buds after all I’m used to the sweeter things in life.

Score 

4 out of 11

Found

Local cafe

Final Thoughts

 Why does everything that's healthy have to be dull!