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!

Mini-smarties Penguin

I'm afraid today's post is going to be a little short I fear. No don't start cheering at that speck of information, firstly that's rude and secondly you'll bruise my ego. I've been rather busy these last few days and I don't just mean on here. Which has kept me on my toes I'd like to point out. Sometimes  it's not easy posting everyday but for the sake of my advent challenge 2013 I'll do it.

Looks weirdly smug under the wrapping.

No winter weather gear at all!

It's not only a busy schedule that's bothering the blog its also today's item. Sometimes there is very little you can say apart from 'oh its a penguin'. Although I do wonder why they have picked a penguin for there Christmas items. I guess Penguins live in the cold and Christmas is cold, but its a very vague link at best. Also I would like to point out to Nestle's that penguins also live in Africa. I guess it could be worse the Milky Bar Christmas item is some kind of owl I think.

Went off before I could scoff - blooming marvelous!

Anyway the item I'm going on about is a mini Smarties penguin. Basically a festively themed Easter egg you know at Christmas. Inside is a nice helping of mini smarties which actually taste the same as normal smarties this time. The chocolate shell isn't quite so nice however, tasting rather cheap and not very thick. Then again I've got used to companies scrimping on quality for a holiday themed items. My best guess is that they believe that the items are most likely going to go to kids who don't mind as long as its vaguely sweet.

One very worrying aspect of this product is that I left it in a tin for a bit as I didn't finish it all at once. Then when I went back, it had already began bloom. I don't really know why it did this, I've left chocolate in the same tin, in the same place for weeks with no ill effect. Perhaps as its a penguin I should have put it in the fridge... or an African beach.

Score
5 out of 11

Found
Superdrug

Final Thought
It doesn't even have a scarf or woolly hat on!

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.

Hark how the bell gets ready to toll!

Really isn't long left folks until Halloween. I am fully prepared I believe now, I have a pumpkin for carving. I have a costume for treating and some friends for surviving. I hope you guys have this much planning or plotting in place. Of course the most important aspect is candy.

Today we have a few products themed towards Halloween as part of my spooktacular challenge. We have a spooky Cadbury's cinder toffee cake bar. I like the sound of this flavor and haven't seen it offered before. We have a skeleton chocolate lolly from Thornton's, Something for the luxuriously spoilt kids. For the cheap kids like moi we have a milky bar ghost whom was on offer when I snatched it up.

Don't know what qualifies cake to be spooky if I'm honest

First up the cake bar, according to the packet each is wrapped by mummies. Now I'm not certain but judging by the packaging it's the hammer horror kind not the maternal. Not sure this is that reassuring because I don't particularly think Egyptian mummies were big on hygiene. This aside I venture inside the tomb to try one of these "frightfully good" (slightly better than mediocre then eh Cadbury's?) cake bars.
Now I'm not normally a fan of cake bars but I'll try regardless.

As soon as I did I was pleased the chocolate coating was up to the usual milk chocolate standards but that's not what hit me. I was really hit by the toffee it was fangtastic, a beautifully rich taste and a nice fluffy sponge. However I found as I ventured further I found the toffee became rather sickly. Thankfully the sponge is light and unflavoured so there is slight balance. But not enough and I came out feeling a bit over indulged. the chocolate coating was good, melted well with a subtly sweetness.

At least he has that look of someone who's long time dead and not like...

Next the chocolate lolly, I like the design they have done a cool idea in using white chocolate as a picture on milk chocolate. Not a new idea but welcome never the less, unfortunately this often means the white chocolate passes unnoticed by the tongue. As I bit into it I recognized that same reoccurring them along with the Gothic themes. Cheaper blends of chocolate, I noticed the usual quality of Thorton's chocolate but with added sweetener and less cocoa. The was a nice subtle nutty aftertaste but I don't now if I was just seeking for excitement. I had noticed half the bar had bloomed, now I'd stored this with everything else and only bought it the other day so this was a concerning sign.

This guy who looks too happy and hyper and being deceased!

But I moved on to the last item a milkybar ghost. Not much to say really it is exactly the same chocolate we all know and love but in a spectral form. Although rather lazy at least they aren't scrimping on quality.

Overall I think the milky bar was the nicest although I could have just bought a regular version and been just as happy. The cake bar started so well I'm rather disappointed that it was a bit too much sweetness. However I may try the other one before it skulks off for another year.

Score
Cinder Toffee cakes- 6 out of 11
Skeleton Lolly- 5 out of 11
Milky bar Ghost- 6 out of 11

Found
Sainsbury's for the cake bars, Thornton's for the skeleton and Superdrug for the ghosty

Final Thoughts
What happens to all the shops Halloween items?

Pumpkin Patch Perils

So day three of my self-imposed challenge to only feature Halloween goodies. So far it’s been rather well let’s be honest, rather disappointing. We’ve had gingerbread man lacking in ginger and a round hairy lump that contained Lupin’s green rice balls. Not a great start but perhaps today is going to be different ad if not there’s only around eighteen more to go (sobs).

I picked up this item at the same time as the spider as both were on offer. That’s one good thing so far is that a lot of these items can be found really cheap just because the shops are trying to shift them before Halloweens gone. Shops have an odd relationship with this season I think, they set up an aisle or so two weeks before hand and then tear it down usually the day before. I guess unlike Christmas which pretty much runs for a whole month in advent terms at least, Halloween is literally one day and then it’s over. We’ve yet to welcome it like our American cousins, which is a shame as I happen to enjoy Halloween as much as Christmas.

I think the table cloths the most terrifying thing here

Today’s product is an example of a product rehash like I described in yesterday’s review. It’s a smarties pumpkin, basically a spooky themed Easter egg. It’s a nice idea I think really as at least you’re getting more than just a hollow pumpkin as these contain the tiny little smarties. Let’s not get too fooled however as I say it’s just a rehash of a previous line rushed out for this fleeting festival.

The foil designs nice not much you can say except at least they didn’t tack some cardboard legs on. Although I have to admit that with these cheap seasonal lines I find the foil packaging to be rather lacking. They don’t keep the chocolate fresh and as a result often these lines can taste stale, however it could just be the placebo effect. Just because it looks cheap and is cheap I expect that it should taste cheap too (what a world we live in). After unwrapping her (I use him too much I’ve decided) I was surprised to find that the design carried onto the chocolate itself. Better than yesterday’s review where the design changed slightly and it ended up looking rather scrotal.

She looks so cheerful shame what happens next.

My surprise increased when I cracked her open and found that the smaller smarties are in fact miniscule. Now I haven’t seen mini smarties in ages and I have grown (in size not mentality I fear) but I swear these are even smaller. Also I realise how clichéd that sounds but honestly there is barely anything too them. After trying one I found that they are now mostly sugar shell with not much chocolate inside. The problem with this is that because there is less chocolate all you can really taste it the sugar coat. I try to dissolve the coat first but again because it’s tiny I barely get a taste before it disappears. What I did get of it however tasted really well cheap. Tasting similar to the usual smarties chocolate, but sweeter and definitely less chocolaty.

Next I moved onto the pumpkin shell. The layer of chocolate here too is rather thin and stingy. Clearly Nestle are trying to save costs everywhere. I’ll give extra points to Cadburys Spiders now as they may have been cheap to use cardboard in the gimmick but at least they didn’t scrimp on the chocolate. The thinness of the chocolate again makes it difficult to get any real grasp on the taste. You kinda need to eat it all at once to build up a big enough picture. If you do this I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed in two ways, firstly you will have eaten all your chocolate at once never good. Secondly you’ll discover that it’s that cheap sweetened advent calendar like chocolate. Tasting more of sweetener than of chocolate.

She kept complaining of a splitting headache

 Overall I was disappointed again rather; I guess I shouldn’t complain too much after all I did get them on offer. Essentially this cost me fifty pence and contained quite a few smarties. Just a shame they tasted bad and I had to eat more of them.

Score

4 out of 11

Found

Superdrug (chemist)

Final Thoughts

I'm beginning to think perhaps this challenge is cursed.

New Nestle Wonka Nice Cream

It must have been fate, or destiny, a great combination of them both perhaps? Nope I’m not talking about how I met my beautiful girlfriend that was much more wondrous (she says she reads my blog!) I’m talking about the amazing coincidence that occurred and how I finally found the new Nestle Wonka bars!

The coincidence is that last night I watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and that today I found these bars on sale! Not only that the shop in question was one I’d never entered but passed when on the bus and today I thought I’ll walk home. See and believe in fate readers because this truly shows it in action.  Since hearing about their announcement I have been scouting any and all shops I pass in the vague chance they may have early stock. After a few weeks I won’t lie my morale was low. Hence why I watched the film to cheer me up and give me hope and clearly it gave something.

Look at it and bask in it's glory.

I thought considering that Kev’s snack reviews have reviewed the Millionaires Shortbread variety here that I’d review the Chocolate Nice Cream today. So without further ado and with much excitement I’m off. Firstly the packaging is pretty bold and invokes the Wonka-esque style we can imagine coming from the book/film. It describes the bar as “Smooth vanilla cream topped with chocolate sauce”. Worryingly this description seems both rather reserved and similar sounding to Wall’s recent non-ice cream chocolate offerings that have been out over the summer. Indeed if any chocolate is more fitting of the Wonka name it’s surely the madcap Aardvark soup mixes Cadbury are concocting.

However new chocolate based on a great book is not to be sniffed at. Great link there to me describing how it smells. Upon opening I took a sniff and found a rather unexciting chocolate aroma. Not nasty, just not exciting. Don’t know what I was expecting really after all this is the real world not something from Roald Dahl’s terrifying mind. This comes from the mind of PR people and marketers, a much more dull and depressing place (no offence!) I was impressed with the decorative image on each chunk, a bowl of ice cream with a flake in the shape of a Wonka W. Quite an impressive attention to detail and definitely wins some brownie points for style.

Really well moulded and quite impressive

I took a nibble of the corner, sampling the outside chocolate layer and a good helping of the cream filling. Both have a great texture that melts immediately on the tongue. With a velvety smooth taste up to the usual good standard of Nestle milk chocolate. A bit plainer than usual but perhaps this is to avoid it becoming sickly when you add the chocolate sauce.  The initial Cocoa taste fades into the vanilla cream which whilst not strong is present enough to distinguish itself. Again it’s just right and not to sweet and compliments the chocolate well. However it isn’t exactly new with these alone as it tastes and looks very similar to the Magnum bites I mentioned from Wall’s.

My next bite incorporated the unique selling point or USP if you’re in “the business” (Which I’m not as you can tell, not sure if there is a “business” in this case either.) By the USP I mean the chocolate sauce topping. It looks amazingly dark and gooey, although it makes me think it could make it sickly. It’s the sort of sauce you’ pile on your ice cream as a kid before throwing up because of said piling. I could wait no further and took a bite before it hypnotized me further.

Sorry about poor quality I was excited!!!

When all three layers are put together they work fantastically. A real chocolate impact is made with the top layers which covers the vanilla. But these fade away, though not too quickly into vanilla. The Vanilla also serves to take the edge off the sweetness I think and stop it from becoming the sickly mess I’d feared. I attempted to try the sauce on its own and scooped some out with difficulty (It’s not sparse just a bit mixed in.) It tasted like the toppings I remember but the good quality ones not the cheap offerings I had at many kids’ parties.

Overall I think this is a good idea and about time we had a return of actual Wonka chocolate bars (The last batch out at the same time of the film to tie in where really good but limited.) Whilst perhaps the flavours on offer aren’t as exciting as their fictional counterparts, they are a sign of possibilities. Nestle have pulled the plug on Wonka chocolate prior to this and I hope history can be broken this time. Imagine what they could add to this line especially considering how popular the Marvellous Creations line is at the moment. We could see some Wimple scrumpet chocolate although that could possibly be considered cannibalism.

Score

9 out of 11

Found

For 60p in local convenience store, worryingly plastered with Daily Mail propaganda.

Final Thoughts
Not sure I'd actually want to try something thought up by Roald Dahl it would be terrifying!!!

Not Quite Breaking and Entering, But Just As Bad

Would you go into somebody else’s house, take a look around judge their furnishings and then leave without leaving a note? Well I certainly wouldn’t!  Ok if I’m honest I would, but wouldn’t we all especially if there’s something interesting to look at. I think I’ve lost my point here. Basically I was going to say you should at least tell the person you’ve been right? So if you’ve taken the time to read my blog why not post a comment or even follow while you’re here?

Right enough blatant self-promotion on to reviewing something sweet and crunchy! Today I have a pack of Goobers I’ve been meaning to talk about. They are pretty damn good, fun to say, fun to eat and they make me think of Spongebob Squarepants. What’s not to love?

Not exactly going to win a beauty pageant 

I don’t remember what drew me to these, I’d like to say destiny but can’t help but feel that’s a tad too dramatic. Don’t think it was the packaging, poor things don’t exactly stand out if I’m honest. There is no smile enhanced mascot beaming at you, trying to hypnotize your child into pleading for them. No flashy “random” gimmicks or swanky typeface. No instead they just state plainly what they are chocolate coated nuts. After yesterday I think that comes as quite a breath of fresh air, simple honesty.

One thing that did stand out is the little boastful comment in the corner assuring that every serving contains 5 grams of protein. While this doesn’t sound as exciting as say, being able to play with them before eating. It does mean you can sit there smugly eating these knowing there could be some benefit to your gluttony. I’m not going to dwell on that idea as it either makes me sound rather petty or rather simple minded.

Pretty much how I feel when I eat them, Definitely a Goofy Goober

So moving on swiftly to the taste test, what I like to call my suck and crunch review style.  So as always, let’s start with suck. When you pop one of these into your mouth the sweet creamy chocolate immediately melts on your tongue. Its Nestle chocolate at its finest, there is something special about Nestle milk chocolate. It tastes amazing when it’s coating something like nuts or wafers, yet in slab form like a Yorkie bar it doesn’t. Perhaps it’s just me but there’s something about Yorkies that doesn’t work, too big and heavy. Bet some of you are chuckling right now about the irony that I don’t like Yorkies which are for real “men”. Well to you people I say shut up, and then I run and hide till I cry myself to sleep.

Anyway getting away from any breakdowns I may be having (I’m a manly man dammit) once the chocolate layer is gone you’re left with the roasted peanut. Now I do like to savour my sweets but even I’m not patient enough to erode a nut with my saliva. So I crunch down and yet more great flavours come out and combine perfectly with the chocolate that lingers. Wow, just wow these taste great to me.

I am not a Goofy Goomba however, sorry Goomby!

It seems a shame to have to even crunch just one of these, but crunch I must for you guys. As I thought if just chewed away you miss out on the point of these sweets. All mixed together the nut comes out strongest and you barely catch a taste of fleeting chocolate. No clearly these are meant to be savoured. Much like Flipz they work best when you melt the sweet chocolate and crunch the remaining savoury to fully appreciate the contrast in both flavour and texture. Clearly designed for me and a small bag can last quite a long time.

I don’t understand why Nestle haven’t launched this product over here in the UK. There is certainly a market for them, every supermarket stocks their own brand of chocolate or yoghurt coated nut/fruit. My only guess is that they don’t have the same health appeal that those trail mix type bags have and they don’t really appeal to kids either. There could still be a market in between however with health conscious parents getting little Timmy these to ensure he gets his protein.

Overall I’m in love with these Goobers, They are clearly meant for savourers like me, someone who is quite happy to take their time with each individual piece to fully enjoy them. Someone who may read blogs. perhaps they favourite or follow those blogs. Perhaps even tweet a link after they enjoyed a particular article. Ok I’ll stop now.

Score

9 out of 11

Found

Local Sweet shop that sells American candy

Final Thoughts 

I think I go off on some rather odd tangents sometimes.