Peep's tree mallows and Cadbury Praline Fingers

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

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

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

So these look plain but taste nice...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bored Blogging?

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

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

He hath no eyes!

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

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

Little disappointed the white chocolate was only a topping

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

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

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

Score

Snowy Delight - 5 out of 11

Snowman - 2 out of 11

Winter Wonderland - 7 out of 11

Malteaser - 8 out of 11

Found 

Any supermarket

Final Thoughts

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

Nestle Snowcaps and Cadbury Snow Bites

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

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

 

What exactly is a Nonparcil?

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

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

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

 

Look how proud he looks of his skills!

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

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

Score

Snow Bites - 5 out of 11

Snowcaps - 7 out of 11

Found

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

Final Thoughts

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

I rant about something small

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Score (of effort put in)

Cadburys - 4 out of 11

Segsationals - 8 out of 11

Kinder - 6 out of 11

Found

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

Final Thought

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

Dairy Milk Chocolate Coins and Others

So yesterday I talked about one aspect of Christmas tradition. OK so I didn’t really but I did reference them, baubles. Essentially balls that for some reason become festive the moment December arrives. It is odd how everyday items take on a whole new meaning for the holidays.

Take today's items for example, coins, we use them every day to buy our hearts desires. They are rather essential, unless you’re like me and find yourself shoving them in your pocket and forgetting them. Honestly sometimes my coat is so weighed down by the things I feel like I’m wearing a divers suit. Anyway slightly off topic, so yes, once a year these little blighters take on a whole new form.

I'm a sucker for the knitted look of Cadbury products.

Suddenly they become chocolate and usually much bigger than usual (not that I’m complaining). I don’t know why they do this I assume it has something to do with stockings. In my house at least my parents would fill our stockings with loose change; I guess the idea is to do the same but with chocolate.  Whatever the reason for their miraculous transformation, I have three to bring before you today.

I have a Dairy Milk branded bag and two unbranded cheaper ones I got for the price of one golden disk (£1). First up the Dairy Milk ones, in three different sizes and two colours. Disappointingly the different foil doesn’t denote different flavours. Nope, these are all Dairy Milk and taste well you’ve guesses it like Dairy Milk. Although it is a nice taste and it’s good to see a company not changing the recipe for a gimmicky holiday idea. Then again it is Cadbury so they can usually be trusted. Not much to say except they are nicely presented in the usual net bag and you get quite a few.

No company name on the label. Always a good sign

Next up we have the cheaper version, first I’ll try the milk chocolate as a comparison. Again they come in a multiple of sizes and any colour you want, as long as it’s gold. I begin to worry as I peel back the foil on one of the smaller ones as I get a cheap an oddly nutty aroma. Never a good sign in any situation. Popping one in my mouth I get a taste of stale sweetened chocolate, with a slight cardboard taste which you could say is rather confusing. As I expected really these are nowhere near as nice, but then nowhere near the price either.

Lastly I move on to the white chocolate currency changelings, my hopes weren’t high for these either as it’s the same company. On unwrapping I got little encouragement and very little smell. However, taste wise these are actually really, really… dull. Honestly there was no flavour to begin with and then slight hints of cardboard mixed with a Milky Bar. Still let’s remember these things cost very little and are probably meant for someone much younger and less refined than I (maybe not the second one actually).

Behind the forth door, I think it's a Christmas pudding, bit early right?

One thing they all shared in common regardless of price was the fact that the coin design was carried on inside too. It’s a small detail I know but after two disappointments they keep me going.

Overall I shouldn't complain, I do but I shouldn't. Instead really I should appreciate them after all they will be gone for another year soon… What a shame, Eh?

Score

Dairy Milk - 8 out of 11

Cheapo milk chocolate - 4 out of 11

Cheapo Whit chocolate - 3 out of 11

Found

All three from a petrol station.

Final Thoughts

Why can't we use chocolate money as currency, scratch that don't think it would work some how.

Cherry Cordial m&m's and other balls

            What’s an iconic Christmas shape? One, that’s also very happy dangling from your Christmas tree,. That’s right I'm talking about spheres, or to most of us balls. Today’s review deals with all kinds balls, in three whole varieties.

            Okay so once again that opening is perhaps a bit more innuendo filled than I would have hoped. However I bet all those balls caught your attention. Wait; scratch that, although they do kind of stick out innuendos, that is. What does that say about the human mind, I wonder?

            So moving on the point is todays review concerns three sugar coated spheroids. Also as this is day four of my Christmas advent challenge so they are all festively themed too. We have Cherry Cordial m&m's, Reindeer noses and some white chocolate type sugar candy.

          

Wish I had a fetching pair of tights like those.

  So first up let’s look at Cherry Cordial m&m's. Yet another case of a favorite brand not releasing all available versions in the UK. I know it’s a small point but seriously it does bother me. Over here we only really have three types and even then we only got crispy in the last year or so. I had to order these from Ebay and a guy shipping isn’t cheap.

          

  Although I'm glad I did, as these are very nice. Unlike the Pumpkin spice ones these actually have a bit of a flavor to them. As soon as you reach the center you get an intense taste of cherry. Then again this does overpower the chocolate taste slightly, leaving the cocoa as more of an afterthought. If you give these a chance for this to melt in your mouth you do get the best of both worlds.

          

I think the crispiness is about all they had going for them!

  Next up the White chocolate drops that I found at a local market. They caught my eye quickly as you don't often get sugar coated white chocolate (unless your American and you can buy Candy Corn m&m's, Not bitter at all). The white chocolate itself tastes nice, almost like a Milky bar nicely sweet and milky. The shell itself adds well too, as if you erode the shell away the insides warmed to a point that melts perfectly.

        

    Lastly we have Reindeer noses; I've seen the usual 'hilarious' Reindeer droppings (chocolate covered raisins). But these are new to me, and perhaps that’s not a bad thing. The chocolate tastes very cheap and the sugar shell just adds to this. Not much I can say except these were disappointing.

          

Behind today's door was a melting snowman, how festive.

  Overall I enjoyed most of these, except the noses, although the idea was there. The worst thing here is the reminder of the m&m's I miss because I don't live in candy central.  

Score

White Chocolate drops - 6 out of 11

Reindeer Noses - 3 out of 11

Cherry Cordial m&m's - 8 out of 11

Found

Local market

Co-operative food store

and EBAY

Final Thought

 I really don't want to now have to try Reindeer droppings!

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!

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.

Nero & Bianco - Dark Chocolate

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

Like a fancy looking Zebra!

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

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

Definitely not as healthy and about the complete antagonist in taste

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

Score 

4 out of 11

Found

Local cafe

Final Thoughts

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

Rice Krispies Squares - Cookie Crunch

I have a funny relationship with breakfast bars, come to think of it I have a funny relationship with everything. But, breakfast bars and me are curious occurences, mainly because I never actually have them for breakfast. I'm not sure whether this is the same for all of you, its' not like I've done extensive research.

Breakfast bars for me tend to be a bit of an impulse buy, usually at lunchtime when energy levels are flagging. they tempt me in with the promise of a possibly healthier alternative than the flapjack next door. However in truth I know that most bars are just as bad if not worse than the alternative. Take todays item a rice crispy square, on face or shelf value my thought process goes like this. Rice crispies are meant for breakfast, breakfast stuff is good for you. Then E=MC2 must mean that these are a healthy lunch option, after all I'm basically having more breakfast.

Not quite sure why I even think its good for me!

Except I'm not and it was all a ruse, as soon as I've bought, paid and eaten half I remember that Rice crispies are kids cereal and therefore have the nutritional values of  a lump of sugar... dipped in chocolate. Which is essentially the idea of all breakfast squares. Take sugar laden cereal replace healthy milk with sticky syrup or marshmallow. Top with chocolate and any additional thing knocking about the factory and then market it like it's golden. As their advertising campaign says "It's all lies... They arn't even square" bloody true they are rectangles!

However I am still a sucker for new and limited edition products, especially if they are cheap too. So when I saw this new range of Cookie Crumble Squires I thought I'd be "healthy" and try them. To be fair to them they don't state on the packaging that they are even attempting to be healthy it's just my mixed up mind that perceives them as such. Instead they identify themselves as Crispy grains of toasted rice with cocoa biscuits and a chocolate coating... Yeah no health benefits to be seen here then!

Ok so it definitely doesn't look healthy!

As ever the adventurer I unwrap and inspect regardless, immediately I'm met with my old friend dissapointment. This looks exactly the same as the normal variety of Rice Krispie "squares". The cookie crunch feature being very small balls of biscuit very sparsely distributed throughout. It's still got the syrupy and chewy texture that I dislike and makes me question why I even bother to give them another go.

I take a bite any way and actually it's not bad. I tactically took a bite that would give me a bit of biscuit and it actually does have a cookie taste to it. It is still rather sickly sweet and the usual flavour of these bars overpowers it to some extent (the mixed taste of sugar, condensed milk and overly sweet chocolate). However ther is an intial cookie type flavour present, it just doesn't make these any more appatising to me in general. They are still far too chewy and sticky for my liking and I regret buying the pack of four. If any one has any suggestions for uses of these things comment below. I'm thinking doorstops, or table legs.

Overal I don't know what I was expecting, these were hardly going to be different were they?

Score
3 out of 11

Found
Poundland

Final Thoughts
I hate being impulsive... sometimes.

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.

Problems with Pumpkins

Hey folks well as promised I'm here today to review what I consider  traditional American Autmnsweets. By this I mean stuff I've found that has a vague connection to this time of year as far as I know from over this side of the pond. In reality you guys probably won't agree but when I think of Americans pre-hibernation I think pumpkin and Turkey. I'm a sweet blog (not to mention sweet in general *wink, wink*) so this means I've gathered some products with added pumpkin.

The image of what would happen if sweets incorporated turkey flavouring. I think we can all give thanks that the candy companies haven't quite got to that stage. Although by the standards of recent Wonka bars that could well be round the corner. Today I have an example of pumpkinny goodnes (and therefore one of my five a day) in the form of poptarts Pumpkin limited edition. I also have some pumpkin m&m's which I recently received through my mailbox.

Love how they try to convince them as a healthy, a whole 6 vitamins!

Lets start, however, with something all Americans apparently consuming by the boat load this time of year Candy Corn. It seems weird to me that these are so popular because half the time I hear people complaining how dull they are. I have some of the traditional corn today but there will soon be a Candy Corn post as I have got my mits on a few specimens. I have tried candy corn m&m's and have been looking forward to seeing how authentic they are. The answer... not very, whilst the m&m's were very sickly sweet (though not in a bad way) these have very little flavour to them. With a slightly waxy texture they arn't bad, just bland. I can see why people complain these things can be dull. After all I still have a whole bag to chomp through.

After two or three, or you know ten more of these I started to get a bit of a scratchy feeling in my throat and a sugary upset in my tummy. Clearly this bag will last a while and I too felt the burden you guys must get every year. I think I definately prefer the m&m version although clearly a pittyfull representation of the genuine article.This leads me nicely onto the pumpkin spice m&m's and a reoccuring problem; lack of flavour. (It's like I plan these posts!)

Ohhhh Autumnal? Not really

Pumpkin is a troublesome flavour in general, it has a rather lack of it on its own and the spices that we put with it tend to overpower it. On the other side is the fact that the flavour it has when its going solo is rather earthy and unpleasant. Case in point with these m&m's They are pretty much all spice (literally) and no pumpkin. They just taste of all spice and chocolate really which is still really nice just not pumpkin as described.

A trait unfortunately shared withe the pop tarts, although in this case there is a sugary sweet taste initially that fades into a bare hint of sweet pumpkin. They are nice just not flavourful. The frosting too only serves really to add a nice crunchy topping. When I tried the filling alone I did detect a sweet earthy tone but very vague. Interestingly when I froze one tart to try (for I have to try one cold: pastry too doughy, one heated: the main way and one frozen. To ensure they get the proper trial they deserve.) I found the pumpkin flavour to be more apparent.

Still rather proud of this

Overall these three were ok if a bit disappointing. I find it odd that we have become so attached to such a tricky flavoured vegetable. Then I remember how awesome they look!

Score
Candy Corn- 4 out of 11
Pumpkin Pop-Tarts- 5 out of 11
Pumpkin spice m&m's- 8 out of 11

Found
Various online places.

Final Thoughts
I think I've picked up on a serious topic of debate here, Pumpkins whats your views guys?

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!
 

 

How to really phone it in!

No need to fret folks we are back to normal as of today. Ok so not normal, and not really right back to normal just kinda not like yesterday. I mean I could never truly be normal could I? Also what is normality anyway? Surely it’s subjective and we should all stop finding that perfect normal. Maybe I’m rambling on an odd tangent for a sweet blog. Maybe I kinda like it.

Anyway, to explain oneself. By back to normal I mean back to sweets, unlike yesterday when we had a savoury experience. Of course I’m also not completely back to normal just yet as it still isn’t Halloween which means there’s plenty more Halloween stuff to scour through. Todays review also isn’t back to Marks and Spencer’s territory, I’ll save the last product for a few days.

Somethings not quite right here

There is a reason for this although don’t start thinking it’s to raise tension and that there’s some big payoff. No that comes with the final post where I have a big surprise for you all on the wicked night itself. I bet you can’t wait! If that thought has got you excited and wetting yourself then I’m sorry. Sorry but you need to get out more and while your there buy some adult diapers.

Geez another tangent, time I got on with the review. Anyway today we have a Halloween themed version of a product that not long came out over here in Blighty. Maynard’s Sour patch Kidz have really only been around for under a year I think. They have proved quite popular and at one point all the shops in my area had sold out. Already we have had additions to the line in the form of Soda Popz, now we have Heads and bodies for October’s festive period.

Somehow I think sour should be in inverted commas

Basically they are the same as usual except the heads have been cut off these patch kidz. It’s no wonder their sour then ‘haha great pun there!’ I hear you roar. Rather disappointedly is that in losing their head they have also somehow lost their range of flavours? As these Halloween themed offerings only come in blackcurrant and orange flavour. Further disappointment came to me because my bag was lacking in blackcurrant heads. In fact I had only two blackcurrant pieces in the whole bag! Somehow to avoid opening the racism door we should move on quickly and not dwell.

I popped one of the abundant orange pieces in my gob and was struck immediately. Not however as you’d imagine by how sour they were, no my face didn’t twist into an unearthly shape. As there is literally hardly any sourness on offer here what so ever. The sour coating melts away in seconds and has nowhere near the punch of the regular range. The orange underneath was very strong too which didn’t help as it overpowered any tastes that preceeded it. It didn’t have the old artificial sweetener taste which is a bonus, however it still didn’t taste like orange. More like undiluted orange squash, in a rather unpleasant burns your mouth kind of way.

Had to make Popcorn cake to cheer myself up

I moved on once the flavour had gone (about four days later) to try one of the blackcurrant pieces. Again the sour coating dissolves in seconds and you barely notice it’s been. The blackcurrant itself is thankfully a little less powerful than the orange so it doesn’t blow your head off. Again doesn’t actually taste of natural blackcurrant more like how a stepford wife version would taste of. Perfect in every way and therein lies the problem.

These are rather disappointing on several levels. Firstly, only two flavours on offer. Really they could have had the usual range at least. Not only are they phoning it in for Halloween here, they are phoning in sick and not even fake coughing! Secondly what has happened to the sour coating? The regular varieties while not amazingly sour like Toxic Waste do at least have some kick in them. Lastly I kinda feel like taking the heads off deprives us all of the rather guilty pleasure we all share in eating humanoid food. Biting the heads off! I had to settle for gnawing on a leg!

Overall this is a rather poor effort for a range that was showing promise. Let’s hope it’s only a temporary setback and we don’t end up with Santa shapes in only cherry for Christmas.

Score
5 out of 11

Found
Local Co-Operative shop, but they are everywhere.

Final Thoughts
Why are the heads so enlarged too? What happened prior to separation?