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!

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!

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.

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!

Cadbury's Make A Wish and Lindt's Stars

So yes I survived yesterday, the infamous Friday the Thirteenth. I think the worst thing that happened was a slight scolding from not waiting long enough for my coffee to cool down. Even then I think I almost got a free coffee as the staff immediately saw a possible lawsuit. Though seeing as it was my own impatience I can't really complain, plus it was a coffee.

I have four items for you today so I'll get this prelude out the way. We have linked items so it shouldn't be too hard, we have two Christmas biscuits and two Christmas stars. First up the two festive biscuits, before you jump to conclusions, no I didn't have it with the aforementioned burner beverage. These two are great looking versions of the old favourite shortbread topped with marshmallow. One as a Snowman and one as a Reindeer, they are rather cute.

Damn it isn't really Rudolph

The chocolate button hat looks nice, tasted waxy and cheap

First we have Rudolph, the mallow is slightly unique as it tastes a lot of brown sugar. It's a pleasant change from the usual vanilla varieties which is on the snowman. Although it does come across as a bit sickly, both bases are a bit lacking in flavour apart from the sugar dusting. The real show comes when you reach the centre of these two and you hit a nice slab of raspberry jam. The combination created in both is great and the biscuits lack of flavour doesn't matter because it adds texture and crunch.

Next we have a Cadbury wish star, a returning product from yule tides gone past. It's a solid milk chocolate star filled with a bubbly milk chocolate mousse centre. My first impression was surprise really. The outside shell is pretty beefy which is a lovely surprise considering most hollow type items have a shell thinner than tissue paper. It does rather then overshadow the inside a bit and I didn't notice that I'd hit the middle without looking. It does melt perfectly as good aerated chocolate should, however they still don't actually give Aero a run for their money. One nice point is that a percentage of the sale of these stars goes to the Make a Wish Foundation. Written on each star is a message too saying 'Together we can make wishes come true'. A nice sentiment and one befitting of this time of year.

 

These are pretty big for a treat

The we have Lindors Lindt star, which while lacking in charity certainly makes up for it in decadence. With the usual Lindor feeling of extravagance and luxury, which while they are nice often feel a bit too indulgent. So luckily this star comes ready to be divided and easily split apart. Clearly they know that it is the season for sharing or that no one person can eat too much Lindor and not feel floaty.

The outside shell is again milk chocolate and inside is the signature Lindor filling. This filling rather conflicts with me somewhat it tastes so nice, so rich and so creamy that I love it and the fact that it melts with such ease helps too. Yet this also brings the problem with Lindor, this filling is often too rich, too sweet and ends up being a bit too sickly. Unfortunately that's how I feel about this product it's too indulgent for me and I did indeed share the other half, mainly for my own safety.

 

A lovely snowflake

Overall these products were nice although none felt that special, I think my favourite has to be the snowman. The charity side of the Cadbury's wish was a nice sentiment.

Score

Biscuits - 5 out of 11

Wishing star - 6 out of 11

Lindt - 5 out of 11

Found

Biscuit in a local shop, stars can be found anywhere pretty much.

Final Thoughts

Have any of you had an unlucky experience on the 13th I haven't. Comment below

Mr Kipling's Winter Whirls

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Well if we are honest it’s actually been looking like that since late September really. Let’s face it further, the minute the twelfth minute the twelve bell tolls on the 25^th you know stores will be stocking Cadbury Cream eggs. (Ironically just before typing this I was at my local Premier and they already had some by the till. Though knowing them they are probably left over from this year).

               

  Before that though lets rejoice for we are now officially in advent time territory. Which means I get to open my advent calendar, YAAAAAAAYYY! Twenty-five days of tiny cheap chocolate. In celebration of that I’m going to do two things in today’s post, firstly I’m going to announce my December challenge! From now until the glorious festive day itself I will be only reviewing Christmas themed products. I know this isn’t much of a challenge right now but remember theres a lot of tat out for the season too.

              

Festive fun begins

  Secondly and less exciting is that I will be reviewing a product of some kind. Shock, horror I know. I’m starting with a nice branded product to settle me in to this challenge. I’m sure many of you will be hoping that I will find more Murder Motel type dubious items which may kill me. At the very least they could have me reaching for the Brandy butter, and the sherry and Santa’s share too.

                

Todays review should be of my advent calendar really. However tradition for me dictates I open it before I go to bed. Too late for this post then. Have no fear I’ll bring it forth before you tomorrow and anyway I have an item ready anyway.

                

They do look impressive

I bring you a Mr. Kipling Winter Whirls; these are a slight variation on the classic Vienesse whirl. The items not quite a biscuit nor is it quite a cake either. One of those items that find themselves in a teatime limbo, like a Jaffa cake. Anyway he festive difference is that alongside the usual buttercream filling is some mincemeat for good effect. Sounds nice, although I’m not a big fan of usual whirls bit too plain.

I try a bite and the same problem occurs again. The biscuit/cake top and bottom are just too large. This wouldn’t matter except I don’t find them that pleasant. They are very soft and very crumbly with a little bit of a buttery flavour. The outside is dusted with sugar which does its best to add some sweetness. The texture is also quite flaky and has an almost pastry like feel about it.

Separation not so bad here, Yes I pulled a few apart.

The next problem is the amount of filling and as per regular filling tradition it’s rather lacking. Worse still when I opened one up I discovered why there’s little blend of flavour. Partly it’s because the mincemeat rather overpowers the buttercream. But mostly as they appear to have separate sides of the biscuit. I tried some buttercream on its own and found it to be a bit too sweet. It’s odd then that the flavour is so lost.

Overall they aren’t a bad start to this advent challenge, after all at least there edible. Plus these things always impress with guests so I can offload the rest of the pack there.

Score

5 out of 11

Found

Tesco's

Final Thoughts

There are some cool products I've been saving for this challenge!

Reece's Peanut butter cups minis and miniatures.

               Is big really better? Surely quantity is preferable to size too? Okay before you readers get the wrong impression I should perhaps explain. After all you might get the wrong end of the stick.

           

I am of course talking about sweets as usual, what else could I possibly be talking about? Honestly get your minds out the gutter people. No, I'm talking about two miniature versions of full size favorites of mine. These items are mini Reece’s pieces cups in both milk and white chocolate varieties.

          

  I can't tell you how excited I was when I found these, other than saying I may have let out a little squeal. However it was a very manly man squeal I can assure you. This was immediately followed by me practically throwing them in the basket and skipping to the checkout. See how manly that is. Before we look at the source of most of my excitement (the white chocolate cups) I will first look at the milk chocolate. I'm attempting some kind of buildup.

            

Sometimes, for some reason when companies change the size of their products they somehow change the taste. Usually it has detrimental effect. Perhaps the use of usually is a bit of a spoiler about my feelings towards these products. Indeed these are great, perhaps better than the usual Reece’s peanut cups.

           

Maybe because it’s more compact thus making the flavor seems more intense. For they are. When I popped one into my mouth I find these to be much stronger in flavour. It still maintains the usual sweet milky and fudge-like chocolate that tastes amazing especially when combined with the peanut paste. They definitely taste better to me than the usual cups; clearly a difference in displacement makes a real difference. Perhaps because you’re taking in the full experience at once that makes it better.

           

Now on to the White chocolate caps, these have two added bonuses before we even get to the taste test. (Not that there is any competition here, they are after all brothers... or sisters, siblings basically) The first benefit is that they are slightly bigger than the others, yes I'm a hypocrite and secondly they come in friggin foil and paper cups!

            

Right at this point I'm going to draw your attention to my post where I talk about expectations. That’s what I thought when I took my first bite into these babies. It has the same almost sickly sweet white chocolate as usual cups and the regular bitty peanut paste. Yet somehow it didn't taste as good as my favorite big cup variety. Then I took a bigger bite, and boy was I wrong. The shift in size has allowed for a slightly larger block of nutty goodness and creates a more intense flavor hit.

          

  Overall bigger is definitely not better as both of these products show. So yeah, don't judge on size people. 

Score

Milk cup - 7 out of 11

white cup - 9 out of 11

Found

Milk cup found in Tesco and White cups found in ASDA.

Final Thoughts

I think I've been rather contradictory in today's post sorry, blame excitement.

Dairy Milk Nutty Caramel and Golden Biscuit Crunch

So, most of us have seen the madcap creations that Cadburys have been coming out with recently. Let’s face it I’m fully expecting a chocolate Frankenstein monster to emerge from the factory gates soon. Arms outstretched searching for his bride. Who will probably be made of white chocolate, opposites attract and all.

Yet it is just the creations range that they are trying out some cool combinations. Under their Dairy Milk bar range we have seen new flavours such as Oreo and more recently Daim. Another was the Toffee Popcorn bar I tried in this review HERE. And today I bring you two more newbies to the Dairy Milk range that passed me by for quite some time.

 

Sometimes Photographing chocolate sends me nuts!

The first is a bar of nutty crunch, which seems to be roasted hazelnuts with caramel sauce and wrapped in Dairy milk. Which sounds amazing, and like the toffee popcorn bar is a bit bigger than your standard Cadbury confectionary. I don’t know if these three belong to the same range but all have a beastlier size than your average bar. Not that I’m complaining after all more chocolate and filling right. Though you do pay more for this, these tend to retail for £1 more than the Daim and Oreo bars.

The second bar is another inspired choice on the face of it. A layer of biscuit topped in cream mousse like filling before being smothered in chocolaty goodness. I couldn’t wait to try either of these bars and rather impulsively bought both together. The lady at the till gave me a look of disgust at my gluttony before begrudgingly handing me my receipt. I don’t care who judges me, not when I have chocolate to console me.

 

It wasn't quite golden more like beige

I’ll start with the nutty caramel, sounds the nicest and I needed cheering up. I got the instant taste of the usual smooth and sweet milky chocolate. The as I delved deeper I hit the vein of caramel and the Hazelnut paste. The caramel added a nice sugary hit much like the caramel bars you get, nicely gooey and not too sickly sweet. Unfortunately the nuts were in detectable in taste. Although they do add texture to the bar that could have just been a sticky chewy mess. I think really the hazelnuts should have been flavoured with salt or something in addition to just being roasted.

Unfortunately it was the same story when it came to the biscuit bar too. The milk chocolate overpowered all the other flavours on offer. I did try the cream mousse layer on its own but could still not really detect any discernible flavour. It just tastes sickly sweet and a bit cheap, some kind of vanilla filling may have worked better. The biscuit too had no flavour and was again about adding texture. This bar kind of reminds me of a S’More a bit but not quite as nice.

I kind of mauled this for photography reasons obviously

Overall both were rather disappointing, let down by the sweetness of the chocolate. Whilst not a bad thing considering the inflated price I had hoped for a nicer product. 

Score

Nutty Caramel - 4 out of 11

Golden Biscuit Crunch - 3 out of 11

Found

Sainsbury's

Final Thoughts

I still have hope for their creations brand, I want more madness Cadbury.

National Nut Day

Happy national nut day everyone! I bring you great and might I add nutty tidings for today. Hope your cashews remain crunchy and your hazelnuts hard. Whats that you have never heard of national nut day! Well actually neither have I, in fact I thought I had made it up as a exciting and engaging hook for todays post.

Howver as it turns out on the 22nd of October this very year (2013), the Uk celebrated not it's first but forth National Nut day. After a little research, (if I'm honest it was literally just reading the side bar on the official website.)  I found out that actually this is an American holiday brought over here recently to encourage healthy eating and environmental responsibility. Not sure how much of that actually applies to todays items, If I'm realistic the nuts here probably haven't even heard of sustainable!

Just how many m&m characters are there now?

Todays two nutty products are both m&m's and both clearly are on the nutty side of the fence. I have a bag of Almond m&m's which you don't find here in England. So when I saw a pack I knew immediately I wanted to compare them to the standard peanut m&m's. Surely I though they can't be that different to warrant two different sub products, please don't point out the fact that there are both a dark chocolate and milk chocolate m&m's. Nor the fact that there is actually a dark chocolate peanut m&m variant, can we just agree that perhaps that MARS are a bit m&m happy in their ideas department.

So bright and attractive and well nutty!

So let's look at these and make a decision, Do we need both? I'm going to throw a wild guess out there and say no. Lets not be too hasty ,however, after all perhaps they taste completely different (doubtful). Ok so firstly in mascot we have two guys here in the peanut corner we have classic Yellow guy (voiced by J.K Simmons, think we have a clear winner already!) and in the Almond alley Blue guy. Yellow wins he's one of the first thing that springs to mind when you think m&m, other than good old red. Next in size, which believe me matters people, well in candy at least it does. Yeah the Almond wins this round rather although remember no more chocolate is on offer it is just because almond is the bigger nut.

The important part now taste!the peanut has a great peanut taste that mixes with the chocolate in the best kind of way to give a nice sweet and nutty taste. Almost like nutella but much more subtly chocolatey, it's very nice and very more-ish. The shell adds slight sweetness and extra crunch. It's not quite as smooth as peanut butter but it's close and thats never a bad thing.

Remember folks size doesn't always matter!

Next the almond, as I've mentioned almonds are the bigger nut. Yet they don't usually have such a good and intense taste as peanuts do, after all who would buy almond butter over peanut butter (nutters thats who HAHAHA... sorry). I was right, barely any discernable nut taste but I was also wrong turns out there is more chocolate here. This just ends up tasting like a blander than average m&m with an odd texture inside. Not unpleasant but definately not enough of a nut hit for any fan.

Overall it's a clear winner in the Yellow corner, but than again what did I expect it's peanut after all!

Score
Peanut - 8 out of 11
Almond - 5 out of 11


Found
Peanut ones can be found pretty much anywhere, literally these are more availeable than the normal ones. The Almond ones I bought from an import store.


Final Thoughts
Hope non of you guys have a nut allergy and suffer as a result of my post

Wonka Millionaire's Shortbread

Expectations are a funny thing aren’t they? Build them up and quite often they knock you down. Take today’s blog post for example if you go into reading this with the low expectations you’ve come to it with you may just enjoy it. Then again no matter how you approach my blog you’re going to love it, after all its awesomeness is a reflection of my own and I just can’t help that.

It’s a true point, however, that often when we build ideas up in our mind they can never truly live up to all the hype. It’s why I try to live as spontaneously as I can, if we don’t think too much not only will we be surprised more but you can never really be disappointed when something doesn’t live up to your standards. Take today’s item, a Nestle Millionaires Shortbread Wonka bar. When I heard that Nestle were re-launching the Wonka brand over here after a seven or so year hiatus I was excited like a small puppy. I remembered the amazing tasting bars that were released to coincide with the Tim Burton film and thought of the possibilities for crazy combinations.

 

Definitely an air of madness about it

Then they came out with the new flavours and immediately I was less jubilant, they weren’t the same and part of me knew that the flavours were variants of other Nestle products. This bar for instance is very similar in taste to a limited edition product that snuck out the back, as these jumped through the door. On the outside these do meet my hopes with the same crazy Wonka feeling design as the Nice Cream I tried Here. The colour and design are brilliantly chaotic that I’m sure Dahl would approve of. Once unwrapped, I found the shape to be rather a let-down. The last bar had a nice print of an ice cream sundae on it; this one is plain except for a monogram W in the corner.

Undeterred too much as usual by aesthetics alone I try a chunk, immediately I notice the chocolate yet again isn’t the usual quality Nestle taste. It’s clearly less cocoa more sweeteners, possibly with all the flavours being thrown around Nestle thought they be sneaky well I got you. It doesn't taste bad with a caramel paste inside with tiny chunks of crumbly biscuit for bite. I would have thought however if they were aiming to emulate millionaire’s shortbread that a solid layer of biscuit topped with caramel and then layered in chocolate would have been closer.

 

Just rather plain in comparison

Then it hit me what I was really eating and my hopes for the future of innovation fell ever more! This is essentially just a re-packaged Kit-Kat caramel, the limited edition bar that always seems to be around. Except unlike them the chocolate coating isn't as thick or even as nice. Whilst the Nice Cream was good and a great idea this one was disappointing. It just feels a bit cheap, the caramel paste itself shows this, and surely a nice coating of normal Mars like caramel would have felt less manufactured.

Overall I was disappointed by round two of the Wonka bar saga; I do blame my expectations in part. I’m looking forward to the final assault when I buy a bar of the Crème Brule although I will try to be neutral… TRY!

Score

4 out of 11

Found

Sainsburys

Final Thoughts

Todays review is rather serious clearly disappointment has aged me.

Thanks Giving- Not the Holiday!

Today's the forth of November, well it was when I wrote this. Shock, horror my secret shame I wrote this a day early to be prepared! Anyway today's the 4th of November which means two things, well two birthdays. One my Granddad yes I have rung him like a good little Saxon, and two my friend Andrew. Who kindly provided me the opportunity to try one of his presents to review.

Ohhh pretty box time!

I usually feel guilty when I take candy from babies, so the fact that he's a year older makes me feel a bit better about taking his. Also helped is that this range is obviously meant for giving, with a colourful and attractive design that practically screams Thank You. Quite literally really considering this is a box of Cadbury 'thank yous', it's all in the name. These are quite cool although the fact that there is only hazelnut praline flavour on offer seemed a bit uninspiring. Again as these are meant for sharing I guess this way there's no fighting over the cremes.

They look quite cute and gifty.

Also it's not that much of a bad thing considering how nice these taste, maybe its because they were free to me or maybe because of my recent obsession with nuts (rephrase perhaps?). But these little flowery joys taste great! The thick outside shell of Cadbury Milk chocolate we all know and love is as good as ever. Then when this is mixed with the deliciously smooth and intensely nutty filling you get an amazing taste. Both melting wonderfully on the tongue.

I see what they did there, Oscar Wilde would be sooo proud!

Only lacking perhaps is the lack of texture beyond fudgy, no small pieces of nut on offer here. I have to point out that when buying my peanut butter I have to go for the crunchy variety over smooth, it just adds excitement in my life

Overall these are really nice and a great way to say thank you to someone. Or yourself if your pretentious, like moi.

Score
8 out of 11

Found
In my friend's box of chocs, he did offer them out though. No theft here!

Final Thoughts
I'm not sure why he got given a box of thank yous for his birthday. Thanks for surviving another year perhaps?

Mistletoe and Whining

Well folks Halloweens over for another year. Pack your prize costumes away and consume that candy before its best before date. Not that the second one is much of a challenge.

I hope your Halloween was as treat filled as mine, although perhaps not as much. I managed to over consume as you can imagine and felt rather full and floaty before bedtime. I did carve an amazing pumpkin with a little help from a glamorous assistant. It was a great night and I look forward to the tricks I'll find next year.

A work of pure blasphemous artwork

So whats next then now that my challenge is over, well folks its quite obvious isn't it? Christmas! Tis the season to be jolly, although if you believe the shops that season started about six months ago. Before you panic no i'm not going to do a festive foodstuff from now till the twenty fifth although today's two are both Christmas theme. Many because at the moment Christmas stuff is on offer in the shops and very easy to get a hold of.

So we have two of Galaxys festive frollicks in the form of their gift for you range. They have released two varieties one of milk chocolate and one white chocolate. It's the second one that really excites as there is as of yet no regular white chocolate Galaxy bars. Therefore its of slight novelty, though both have uniqueness in the shape and filling but not as exciting as new white chocolate.

They do look rather impressive

I'll begin with the least exciting milk chocolate however and build up. The look of these bars are quite nice with a present like bow and cool sectional design. They are great for sharing although hope your groups small as there's only four segments. With two bubbly chocolate and two smooth chocolate filling really this is a bar for two. Luckily for me when I tried these I was a party of one and got the full benefit to myself.

I broke off one of the segments and took a nibble, I immediately recognized that amazingly silky Galaxy taste followed by the sweetness. Now I do love Galaxy bars however I find they create a scratchy sensation in my throat, not enough to deter me however. The part I'd tried had the truffle filling which had a great fudge like texture that stood out once the outside had melted. A lovely combination and the filling was slightly different in taste, enough to just notice the difference. Next segment I tried was bubbly, and although not as melty as an Areo bar it still created a tingling sensation on the tongue.

In hindsight the packaging doesn't mention truffle

Next I opened the white chocolate, again these look really quite impressive. I took a bite within instantly, however something was wrong. Or rather not wrong but disappointing, it turned out that the Mars corp have just repackaged a lump of Milkybar chocolate under the guise of Galaxy. I'm not exaggerating this bar is Milkybar chocolate but aerated. The bubbles again are nice and create a good texture but this isn't Galaxy bar white chocolate in any sense. I tried another section hoping the filling parts would be good, To my dismay it turns out that all four segments are bubbles! This bar is lazy on two accounts and the experience left a rather bitter and scratchy taste in my mouth.

Overall whilst I was disappointed with the white chocolate offering, I was pleasantly surprised by the milk chocolate. Also I got them on offer so really can't complain... Yet I do!

Score
Milk chocolate- 7 out of 11
White chocolate-5 out of 11

Found 
W.H Smith's 

Final Thoughts
I wonder when Easter will begin?

The Halloween Hat-trick or treat!

Happy Halloween everyone! Tonight’s the night when the spirits are most restless, rise and seek revenge on the living. So sit back, relax (though not too much don’t want to be grabbed by the ghoulies!) and read these devilishly delectable treats I have assembled for you. Before you begin to wonder yes I may have a trick or two in store for you lucky mortals!

The items before you are possibly the last we will see on here of creepy candy before we bury the dead for another year. By the look of some of the half-arsed attempts this may not be totally bad. I say possibly, because in pursuit of this challenge I may have gone a bit over the top in Halloween prep. I half expect to open my cupboard to be greeted by a goblin chocolate I’ve forgotten about. Hell it’s still sweet so I’ll just eat it and tell you all.

Gloriously green goop a plenty

First up today we have a Cadbury’s cream… sorry SCREAM egg. Hoho Cadbury’s I see what you did there! Basically we have the good old crème egg from Easter but dyed green. I’ve got to admit when they did this for the first time I thought it was pretty clever. Also I get another opportunity to “enjoy” their eggs. Why quotes you ask? I have an odd relationship with Crème eggs I think I like them and find that once I start eating them I regret it immediately. As usual I don’t keep this in mind as I unwrap, and bite off the top. Initially as usual all I get is a nice large chunk of Dairy Milk goodness as the great green goo has slimed its way into the bottom half.

I peer inside and see the green goo in all its gory glory, got to admit it is rather off putting and unsettling seeing the luminous gunge before me. I dig a finger in regardless and try some. Yep the regular rich and overly sweet crème I’ve come to know and love/hate. It’s not bad on its own but when I eat it with the chocolate as intended I feel rather sickly and in need of a lie down. Hopefully I haven’t been poisoned and Cadbury’s charged with murder most foul!

Eeeeewwww it's like some kind of plant thing!

I feel the effects waning and prepare myself for the next item and I have to admit I am not looking forward to this one. Weirdly it’s an item I’ve always wanted to try but in the example I have before me I have little confidence. I found this chocolate coated apple in a petrol station, cause enough for health concerns when it comes to food alone. However this item also doesn’t have any information on the packaging… Not even an expiry date, which technically is illegal.

 

                                                         Look at the scaredey cat

Remember folks if this kills me take solace that I died on this day of all days and that I did it for you. Well not entirely my compulsion with candy spurred me on a little but if it gets you through the grief I did it for you! I take a bite and wow was I right! The chocolate is cheap and tasteless with a greasy texture, and the apple beneath is worse! It’s clearly been beaten and abused prior to dipping as it’s so soft and mulchy I wouldn’t be surprised to find a maggot or two in my mouth now. Worst of all I think is the fact that underneath all this chocolate is something that could have been considered healthy. That is something that definitely has no place here on this blog. Or does it?

                                                    What kind of Witches hat is... healthy

Here it is folks then, the trick in this tales tail. The last item of the Halloween challenge! What could it be? It’s a cabbage, A CABBAGE! Surely some curse has befallen me, nope it’s a cabbage. To be precise it’s called a Witch’s hat cabbage. Basically a purple conical cabbage, now I don’t go near veg often so have no idea how to approach this … thing. I break a leaf of and try, with its weird earthy taste I screw my face up in disgust. I did boil it as you are supposed to and got an interesting result.

The cabbage turned the water a cool bluey purple hue which was great except it also changed the colour of the pasta I had included. The result was a rather appropriate for Halloween dinner of pumpkin pasta. I still had almost a whole head left so decided to try dipping it in random assortments. My favourites were good old fashioned sugar and the old reliable peanut butter. Rely on Roy to take the healthy and put it on its head… of cabbage. Hope you enjoyed my Halloween trials now their over I can continue my quest to try weird candies and not the usual stuff with a scary theme.

Score
Scream Egg- 4 out of 11
Apple- 2 out of 11
Cabbage- 7 out of 11

Found
Sainsbury's supermarket and a random petrol station!

Final Thoughts
Only on Halloween could a vegetable come out on top on this blog!
 

 

Lemon and Slime- bad pun time!

Ok, so yesterday proved two things. One that I have built up a rather impressive stash of Halloween treats for you guys. Two thankfully I can and will be reviewing several of them in one post from now on in order to catch up with myself. Today we have two items that have both been waiting for their time in the spotlight for a while and deserve to be heard.

They are both however Halloween varieties of Halloween items so sadly I’m not expecting much from either of them. Although both have some differences that may make a difference but nothing unique or new on show here. That seems to be a running theme at the moment; it’s a great opportunity for a company is Halloween. We don’t care about the holiday enough over here to justify totally new ideas, so brands can just alter their packaging to suit the season and little else.

Bit disappointing the plain outside!

Thankfully with Christmas we are a bit pickier and new products seem to arrive, or old ones reappear that get the dust brushed off them when the festivities take them. For instance Cadbury snow bites a chocolate treat I love but only get to experience once the snow starts a dropping.

The first item up today however is something I don’t actually mind they don’t change too much as I love the regular item anyway. It’s a Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin, it’s by Reese’s so I already know I’ll love it and the less they mess with their formula the happier I am. As soon as I take it out the packet I’m a happy undead bunny (if I were alive it might be too much like Easter!). I’m greeted by a lovely chocolate and peanut butter aroma and the chocolate on the outside is slightly melted and gooey, both are very good signs.

Though the sheer amount of filling makes up for looks

I snap it in half to judge the chocolate to peanut ratio is on offer here and I am surprised instantly. The peanut butter seems to make up the majority of this much thicker than their usual cups. My mouth starts a watering at this and I can’t keep myself from it for too long. I bite in and find the chocolate has great fudge like texture although a disappointing lack of flavour. This is made up immediately however by the amazing as always peanut butter. A lovely nutty sweet, yet salty taste that takes over the chocolate flavour immediately. No wonder with such a thick slab too, it’s not been blended too fine either so you get tiny little nutty bits for added texture.

It’s good but I’m not sure it’s up to their usual quality and nowhere near as amazing as my favourite white chocolate cups. I think they have definitely sacrificed some of the chocolate quality and quantity here. On the flipside the peanut butter is better and more than usual so it kind of balances out. At least they haven’t scrimped on quality too much here. One thing I am slightly disappointed about however is the lack of design on the item itself. I was expecting a jack-o’-lantern type face to be on the surface but unfortunately it’s rather plain.

Impromptu photographic skills required in the field

The next item I have is a festive edition of much loved Jaffa cakes. By the way in case you wondered these are definitely cakes and not biscuits as many believe (Biscuits go soft when stale, these like cakes go hard #science). These are quite a cool idea as these Halloween editions have a different flavoured jelly, instead of the normal orange we have lemon and lime (sorry SLIME, get it) on offer here. McVities are really impressing me with the effort they are making towards Halloween as there digestives yesterday did well too. These taste great the new flavour really compliments the basic formula well and the flavour seems to have infused with the sponge. I hope this isn’t a passing visit as I’d like this to become a regular variety. Having said that if it did it would make the product no better than the other products I chastise for not changing.

Overall I was happy with both of these products, although if we are honest the Reese’s was the same basic cup but I didn’t complain because of favouritism. Secondly my thought on the new flavour becoming available all year round would create the problem I complain about. Can we ever truly be happy?

 Score

Pumpkin- 6 out of 11

Jaffa CAKE- 8 out of 11

Found

Pumpkin is from a local sweet shop that sells American sweets, the Jaffa Cakes I got from Sainsbury's but are widely available.

Final Thoughts

Wow I am a bit of a hypocrite this week aren't I?