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!

Cider and Apple Christmas Pudding

So after yesterday’s rather spectacular display of shoddiness, (both in respect to the product and if I’m honest my review) today I vow to be better. Bringing something that isn’t just festively themed but also rather special. In fact a lot about this product is special to me.

Firstly I placed this item at the Christmas market that I mentioned a few posts ago, from a wooden chalet selling nothing but Christmas puddings. Not just one varieties though, oh no, these were specialists boasting four different ones. That in itself was rather special, as someone who isn’t a massive fan of Christmas puds I don’t pay much attention to developments in the field. As far as I know there’s normal and the other one (literally basing this on the coloured bowls differences you see in the supermarkets). These deserved my attention however so I took a peek and as my housemates and I wanted to we purchased a cider and apple pudding lump.

I do love the name of the company very rhythmic! 

If I’m honest things were looking rather bleak for me. It was a majority vote on the one we wanted and I was in the minority. I don’t particularly like cider; I find it a bit too sweet although I do like apples, odd to say the least. Still it was one we bought together so I would endeavour to try it anyway. Plus in doing so I get to review something slightly different from the usual mix of chocolate and biscuit.

It was also special because the pudding was the way to round off our house Christmas dinner which I was making. I’m pretty proud of my cooking prowess and of my dishes mu stew is one of the Supremes (second only perhaps to my spag bol or French onion soup). The stew tasted amazing and the dumplings some of the best I have ever produced I believe. Everyone seemed to agree though they may have slipped it in the plant pot when I turned around. Having said that our plant has been looking a bit ill lately. Then came the piece de pudding for everyone which I prepared traditionally by steaming. I didn’t follow through with the other tradition where you put a coin in it for some lucky bugger. I didn’t want to kill anyone for Christmas after all.

Why do so many look forward to this sight every year?

The pudding didn’t look as I had imagined and was much darker than I remember puddings to be. It didn’t seem to be so currant filled and breadcrumy as I am used to. The pudding tasted ok, sadly not amazing but not bad. A bit too much cider for my liking, which overpowered all the other flavour somewhat. It was a bit stodgier too and felt rather heavy. The cream went well with it though but not as nice as the regular puddings. Still the meal was great, we pulled crackers, shared jokes and almost offended each other to the point of breaking down. Basically it was what Christmas meals are meant to be.

I know it may seem to you guys as though we celebrated a tad too early but our household isn’t the most organised and soon we all leave for our respective families. We tend to plan big events a week in advance as often something arises. This kind of backfired in that we managed to keep our plans this time. Still it was Christmassy and everyone else loved the pudding.

Overall the stew was great, the pudding meh but the evening was magical. Wow I feel soppy, how much more festive can you get?

Score

Christmas pudding - 5 out of 11

Evening - 10 out of 11

Found

'German' Christmas market

Final Thoughts

Amazing friends are amazing.

I let down my hair!!!

Guess where today's item comes from. Go on bet you can't think. Where's the last place you would expect to find me one of the most unsophisticated people around. Someone who shuns refinery in favour of the quick and the sweet.Times up!

Now you better sit down for this one, I was at the ballet! Or rather the ballet came to my town and I went along for a gander. Now normally I wouldn't be too fussed about dancing and a prancing but a few reasons struck a cord. Firstly my girlfriend (insert amazing here) wanted to go, secondly the show was a darkish telling of Rapunzel. But finally because a trip to any theater brings an interval and that means Ice-cream. All three of these meant I was looking forward to today and the possibilities ahead.

The hair aspect is an odd thing to focus on as it didn't feature much.

The show was really cool, believe me I only go to the theater for comedy shows usually and have never seen anything to do with dancing in my life. But the dark and haunting soundtrack, coupled with the earthy tones was amazing and the all important interval became less important and quick to come around. I can strongly recommend the Lorent Ballet's telling of the Rapunzel fairy tale tour dates can be found Here.

I don't quite know when toffees considered old... or English

Before the ensuing ques and hordes of show seekers descended upon the trays of ice cream I flew to be ahead of the curve. On offer before me wasn't just the trio of Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate I had expected. No also there was Mint Choc Chip (not a fan sorry), Honey and Ginger (tempting). But there literally the last pot was the one for me Minghella's Old English Toffee. I snatched this up without even thinking of where the spoon was or if it was included. To be honest in the state of excitement I was in I would have shoveled with my palms like a meercat.

I quickly popped the lid and found the spoon within. Now the problem occurred for my ice cream routine tells me to wait for the second half and for the ice cream to melt before digging in. This is very difficult as you can imagine. I stared longingly at a beautifully beige frozen dessert with rather large looking chunks of burnt toffee. The wait seemed unbearable. Then the curtains rose the lights went down and the ballet and binging begun.

They look and feel really fancy!

The ice cream was great a lovely sweet and almost salty tasting ice cream. Really good quality no wonder the outside packaging boasted of it's heritage. The little pieces of toffee worked great adding crunch and bursts of toffee that I love. The only drawback was that the second half was shorter than the first and was over in what felt like ten minutes.

Overall I had an amazing night, show was great and the ice cream wasn't bad either. Now you weren't expecting me to say that ever. were you?

Score
Ice-cream - 9 out of 11

Found
Local Theater in those cool ice-cream tray things the users have.

Final Thoughts
I feel so manly after this post, well kinda, well not at all actually. But I'm loving it!!!

Yo Sushi! The good, the bad and the Mochi

Konnichi-wa! That's hello in Japanese for those of you who don't know. See, my blog can be educational as well as entertaining, though some may say that it's neither. Those few are deviants however so lets not dwell on their opinions.

So if you can't guess from that charismatic and seamless introduction today's review has an aspect of the Orient about it. Only an aspect though, after all I only went to Yo! Sushi not all the way to the Japan. Someday perhaps I'll bring tidings and more than likely treats back from the Far East. Until that day we will have to settle for the South East... of England.

Yo! Sushi has always interested me. Seeing those tiny plates sailing past the customers like something from a game show appealed to my sense fun. Only the idea of not quite knowing what I could be eating and the possibility it could be seaweed was putting me off. Until recently that is when I finally bit the Wasabi, took a seat and let insanity and sushi wash over me.

They are even presented in a great way too!

Believe me I am glad, Yo! sushi is a truly unique experience. It really feels like your in a crazy TV show with the neon colors and waitress call system that plays a random sound clip like a buzzer. For those like me who are worried about the mystery aspect of the food system have no fear. Firstly there is a menu that describes what you see and you can order straight from it. I strongly recommend the Katsu chicken and Vegetable Yakisoba, two dishes only in fact found on the menu.

Secondly I urge you to try a random dish from the belt and really immerse yourself in the experience. In doing this I did genuinely end up eating seaweed thinking it was runner beans. However it tasted soo good that by the time I had realized I didn't care. Today's review isn't about seaweed however as always it concerns something far sweeter, dessert. I decided to top the meal off to try their two newest editions to the men chocolate and cheesecake Mochi.

Mochi is cooked sweet rice pounded into a paste and them formed into a ball. It has a squishy rubber like texture to it and contains a filling, traditionally red bean paste. Now I know that doesn't sound appetizing to the ears and actually they don't look that appetizing to the eyes either. To the mouth though it can be very appealing. The rice outside has no taste itself unless its coated and really just provides a squishy rubber casing that melts in a weirdly pleasing way when masticated. Then you access the filling which can pretty much be anything you could imagine.

So chocolate and cheesecake isn't traditional but believe me it was worth breaking with tradition. Firstly the chocolate one. It has a great taste of luxurious dark chocolate cocoa mainly due to the dusting of cocoa powder on the outside. The filling is a very thick and subtly sweet chocolate paste that contrasts with the bitter dusting. The outside picks up on these flavors brilliantly and the whole thing is almost akin to eating solid hot chocolate.

I made this recently, not relevant but I'm proud of it.

The cheesecake variant is even better believe me. Initially it was a bit disappointing as the outside dusting is soft biscuit. Had it been more like digestive, crunchy and oaty then it may have made the experience astronomical. Not that it wasn't once I got to the gorgeous cream cheese filling. Again a really thick and generous paste, starting off as subtly sweet before shifting seamlessly to a Philedelphia like cheese tinge. I was amazed by these Mochi, where my past experiences had found them to be rather dull and bland (I admit they were store bought) these were truly amazing.

Overall I'd recommend both Mochi and seaweed. However I'd recommend going out of your comfort zone and trying new experiences even more though. You never know what you might find. Lastly I'd like to put out an appeal for you guys to suggest things for me to find and try. I want interesting and odd ideas, things I may not have heard of is best. Comment below or tweet me @Snaxon.

Found
Yo! Sushi

Score
Choclate- 8 out of 11
Cheesecake- 10 out of 11

Final Thought
Sorry for lack of pictures, I was too swept up to capture the moment.

Hey Honeybun!

They say an army marches on its stomach. I don’t know quite who “they” are but then we never do, do we? Well I know I’m not quite a whole army but I can state that a Roy marches on his sweet tooth.

Often this marching occurs at lunchtime around the time when it calls for my caffeine kick in either tea or coffee form. For instance todays review was purchased at precisely one thirty alongside a cup of water and teabag. This treat has been tempting me from beside the counter for some time now and I’d been doing well to resist the urge. It’s called an Amondi from a company called Honeybuns.

They have a very friendly if a bit presumptuous packaging

 Apparently until now I have been doing a disservice to the café. For the packaging points out I should “Always say – “Amondi please” when ordering your coffee”. This is slightly pushy I think especially considering some days I don’t even have a coffee. I will let them off this time if they too can see past my misdemeanour of just handing the cake to the server and not asking for one. (As with all good relationships it’s about compromise.)


So what is an Amondi? I certainly want to know. According to Honeybuns it is their version of an Italian Ameretti, but gluten and dairy free. Now I’m not an expert but other than being rather domed and round I don’t quite see a similarity. It’s not got the same obviously crunchy shell for one and it’s about four times the size. Clearly their Ameretti term is rather broad and liberal as it means little bitter things (thanks wiki). These are neither little nor do I think it will taste bitter, though I'll let them off on both accounts.

Still I won’t hold that against it and that almond in the centre is mighty tempting. I open it up and am surprised immediately on the weight and the feel of this biscuit. I’m starting to regret it now, I think if I attempt to dunk this it may just finish off my tea for me. It smells pleasantly sweet and nutty however so all may not be lost folks.

Compare and contrast time folks

It has a doughy feel to it and when I break a bit off I find it appears to be mostly ground up nuts, like compressed sweet tobacco or the filling of a bounty bar. Not really a biscuit more like a small cake. Before I delve in I do the obvious and pick off the almond. Biting down I get what I’d expect and a bit more as it’s taken some of the sweetness from the Amondi. I take this as a good sign of things to come especially if it accompanies a sugar high.


So without further delay I try the cake/biscuit itself. I was right it has that same bitty texture you get with any products concerning desecrated nuts of some identity. It’s nice and crumbly whilst still keeping its form so you’re not covered in droppings. The taste is sweet and faintly fruity but not necessarily nutty, thankfully the sweetness isn’t overpowering or sickly and I find myself easily demolishing the whole piece in one sitting. I tried dunking it but considering it’s already moist and my teas already sweet neither make any passing impact.

May not appear appetizing but at least it perked me up

I don’t think I’ll be asking for it again “when ordering my coffee” however as it’s not the biscuit type thing I’m looking for. I need something crunchy to shake me up and gear me for the rest of the day. I would buy it again as a treat because it’s nice and sweet. One interesting point to me is the sweetness, which seems to come as the ingredients indicate from sugar. I would have thought considering the name of the brand and health conscious marketing that using honey would have been a more obvious choice.

Overall however it’s a great treat at lunch time though not necessarily for dunking. I hope to track down more products from Honeybuns soon.

Score
7 out of 11

Found
Local cafe's counter stategically placed.

Final Thoughts
The bee on the pack will be out of a job if they insist on using sugar.

Think I'm turning Dorayaki!

Dorayaki! No, I didn’t sneeze but thank you for the courtesy “bless you”. Chances are if you’re reading this however that you already know what Dorayaki is and you don’t think I attacked my keyboard. You may even have tried it, if not. Why not? Stop reading this and find some, make some or pray for some.

I’ll explain them to those unfortunate enough to not have yet experienced these Japanese delights. They are pretty simple to describe, two pancakes on top of each other sandwiching any filling you can imagine. The traditional filling is Red bean paste. Don’t recoil at the idea of pasted beans for dessert; believe me it sounds much worse than it tastes. They are essentially pancakes with something jammed in the middle, I have tried to make my own but it takes a better cook than I to make the fluffy pancakes needed. The centre ranges as far as your imagination can take you, for this review I’ll only be looking at the four you can buy from one fast food chain alone.

How could I ever have doubted these beauties?

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of travelling. As well as being a bad blogger and not posting as regularly as I’d set out to, it’s meant passing through Waterloo station quite a bit. With each passing I would visit the Wasabi restaurant that specialise in quick lunches for the hungry commuter. Basically they serve a mixture of hot food for dinner and bento boxes for lunch. Essentially a sushi bar on the go, they do have seating but it doesn’t seem to get used much in this branch amid the hustle and bustle. Within a short amount of time (two weeks) I have managed to sample their entire range. I’m now eyeing up the Mochi range for a follow up review, so keep your peepers peeled.

I’ll start logically with the first one I tried custard filled Dorayaki. This is clearly not very traditional but at the time it was what my curious but wary mind would try. From my first tentative bite however I was hooked. The pancake was light and fluffy with its own very subtle flavour of vanilla. It seemed to possess the power to melt in your mouth perfectly too. I’m not usually a fan of pancakes; often they are rather heavy on their own before you even begin to pile on the sickly sauces needed to flavour them. These were more like little light sponges, airy, round and very moreish.

The filling was something to behold too, a nice thick helping of custard (with a solid texture that held its shape), very creamy and very custardy tasting. It complemented the vanilla pancake well and the two create a great combination of sweetness that is unmatched by any other dessert I’ve tried. I believe I could consume many of these in one sitting without feeling sick, guilty or full. It’s sweet enough to end a meal but also not so sweet that I couldn’t justify having it as a midday snack on its own. Basically “ME LIKEY”!

My girlfriend's favorite

As you can imagine I needed to try the other flavours, however they needed to be kept special and I restrained myself from buying them all then and there. Thankfully I knew my travel plans would be bringing me back to another Wasabi soon and then through the station at a later date. With careful planning I knew I’d soon have tried them all (not like I was obsessed or anything). With little persuasion of the amazing delights Dorayaki offered me and my girlfriends were having a sit down meal at another Wasabi branch. We each ordered a different flavour, she had Green Tea and I had Red Bean paste. Together we would cover the two more traditional fillings on offer.

One slightly unsettling thought however I find is that all of the pancakes look and taste the same. Now I know Wasabi are a fast food chain and therefore these are made traditionally but I they feel so authentic that it troubles me to imagine them being a mass produced item. I can’t complain however as they taste just so good so thoughts of mass production are soon forgotten. The Green Tea filling was first to go. It had the same thick custard texture thick, creamy and just as smooth. The taste started out with an initial sugary burst that faded away into a pleasingly bitter taste of tea. This tea taste added another level as it took away the sweetness perfectly without overpowering it.

Texture isn't as off putting as you'd think

We were both a little wary of the red bean paste but as it was the original filling we persevered. The texture was a bit odd to say the least. It is essentially beans mashed up. I would describe it as drained and cleaned baked or kidney beans mashed and sweetened. Believe me these are far from unpleasant however, it has the same initial sugar burst which subtly fades away. Unfortunately it fades into a rather bland bean taste. For this variety it’s mostly texture that the filling has to offer.

The last flavour, cream cheese I picked up as I passed back through Waterloo at 7am on a Friday. The weather outside was that horrible dreary British drizzle that makes you question why you got up at all. I hoped the Dorayaki could lift my spirits; it did that and much more! The filling was light and creamy akin to whipped cream with pieces of beans inside that kept it interesting. It began with the same initial sweetness that fades before it becomes dull. In this case an awesome quality cream cheese. Instantly this became my favourite and I am only saddened by the knowledge that it could be a while before I try it again. I urge anyone reading this to try it before they die.

Look at possible perfection folks.

Overall I highly recommend trying Dorayaki. Not just Wasabi’s however, a simple google search should fill you with as much ideas and inspiration to want to go out and gobble them all up. If you do pass a Wasabi though get in there and try the cream cheese, you’ll thank me. 

Score

Custard: 7.5 out of 11

Green tea: 8 out of 11

Red bean paste: 7 out of 11

Cream cheese 10 out of 11

Found

These four variants are from Wasabi

Final Thoughts
I would but I have a train to catch (once I think of an excuse).